Hodge Podge Lodge; 768; Wood Carving #3

THIS. Yes. Well no not since. Hi I'm glad to see you at hodgepodge today. I have a new friend. And I want you to look around and figure out why I invited Mr. Brown to hodgepodge last today. I bet you can. Welcome to hotchpotch it. Amy have you looked around and figured out why and why did. This interest you. What do you think. Well. But even his choice. He brought these to show us right. And why do you think. I could go to the store and buy these books and things like

not not these things because these are very special but what's special about Bilbrey. Jeffrey what do you think. He's an artist. That's a very good way of saying he's an artist what kind of artists would you say. Went back on his own woodblock. Well you've been called lots of things. How would you describe yourself Bill. Woodcarver. Grassman woodcarver. Woodcarving is a craft and I do think he's interested in nature. How can you tell. I've seen some work out of wood and some of them are special nature or things. Like that one right there. VIGELAND. I noticed. Would you like to feel him moving that feeling good. Does it remind you of anything in the story that you might have heard in school. Mean famous piece of music. Came out just like the war for Peter and the wolf lean his ribs are showing his skin. I like the way it

feels because sometimes you see wind turbines that are so smooth they're not as interesting as you. But that's one of the beauties of what I think is Cimi the feel of it and different things have a different it's right. Well of a sort of rough with his owl. Food Now did you have any particular owl in mind when you did. I had. Several sketches. One was from a front page of a newspaper. Another from. An ad for a commercial product and I just combine them. Into a figure that I enjoyed doing. How do you get started. I've always been interested in wood and the things that can be done with wood it is just a beautiful medium to to play with and. I don't know. As a kid I used to do and I widdling by things and.

Found a book that turned me on about 10 years ago and been at it since. Have you ever tried whittling with a penknife. Yeah. Did you make anything but now just just for fun just a witness make take a big stick and make it into the right. But that's important because you have to learn it the right way to use it so you don't chop yourself. Bill brought some things for you kids to try something and you can actually try and get your hands into it a little later when we go over discovery tables so maybe you'll get turned on and you'll take up some woodcarving. Because you don't. I see you used a piece of an old board here. This looks like the right answer. You don't have to go buy expensive wood. No. Really. Yeah I like that. But will see there because you look and but there is an air war too. Yes yes the top of the hour is

almost black plastic. You get. The paints or or just watercolors or whatever. Some look better. Than natural. And this was cowboy here. Looks like somebody I know. But Jeff you brought a couple of treasures today Intel. Tell us about these. Well what do you know about these bones to jawbone. It's like a horse and that was. And I I don't think I can add anything that almost looks like a monkey skull of any monkeys around here. You say your mother bought them at an antique. Auction. Well maybe somebody brought them back or some other country. And. They're. Having lots of mystery. From. Spills on them right. Have you ever seen a bone made out of wood. Take a look

around this. There's one wouldn't you. Wouldn't it. It looks like it was a real one on the dog. Now how do you describe the way this kind of thing. That's. A caricature of it you know that word. I mean. You. Know. It's a funny word. It simply means taking some of the features that. The animal might have an exaggerated to make more. More more and more humorous. It's like they do that all in the political cartoons all the time. Someone has a big nose they make sometimes it just draw the big nose and they know exactly what it is. And sometimes some other picture. Well speaking of animals. I have a lot more of an animal here that's going to be very tiny. It's not taking up very much room. How about that.

And I thought maybe your kids might like to help me think be. Every day I want to take a turn at work. A few days ago. One of my friends. Well. She's my friend now that she wasn't when she called me up she said that she found this poor little creature on her front yard. And they thought. She and her husband thought it might be a possum. But when she brought it over I decided it had to be. Cut loose in trees. As nesting holes and trees and gray fur on the ground. All right. Well you really it's hard to tell at this stage isn't it. His tail doesn't have any hair on me. And you're hearing making groaning noises looks like a. I'm trying to keep him going. What I do. In your basket. And that's why I'm here.

And. Give him a little drink of not fall. Over. Go read. A book that says they open their eyes when they're 19 days old so you know he's. Not that old. This. Is milk and. Corn syrup. And. Babies here. Again. The hardest thing to do is to keep them warm enough because he doesn't have any for any nice warm weather to snuggle up to her brothers and sisters. I can see his nose is getting blocked. Would you like to touch him. Isn't it amazing how he has. To even see his eyes are going to be be where his eyes are going to be and his ears are there with their old sort of plaster back. Little tiny feet.

Little skinny tail. So he seems to be doing pretty well. So I just carry him around with me wherever I go and keep his mouth warm. He may get as big as a squirrel. Mr. Brown is working. Would you like to there for tables. Laura. Love to chew on what will be your best clothes. See here he's not finished yet. Still have. Some work to do on his feet and coloring him up somehow but still able to get down. Isn't that a neat idea. Is that something you invented.

No I think that's a standard is that fairly typical when the project gets big it can be made up of two pieces of paper and he's going to be and oh he's going to be up on his well and his tail is a little heavier than that as a rock back he'll be mounted somehow when he's a baby. And here is. That. A special kind of there but. Brisley vigorously there. Does this remind you of a funny point you might have heard ONE DAY. I never saw a purple cow that I never saw a purple cow I never hope to see one but I can tell you anyhow I'd rather see than be one. That's the purple spot screen spotted goat. That's the artistic life.

Well is he breathing or what is he doing in the book. Eating anything. Goats are famous for chewing up all kinds of different kinds of things like I have one wants to like eat the funny papers. Yes. So this is the wood carvers ballot or hammer and notice it's round. That's because the woodcarver when he picks it up and starts striking it all doesn't have to worry where the flap part is everywhere. It's everywhere. So you always get the tool. Where you want to. All over the wood mallet. This one is a small one and for smaller work and it wasn't quite heavy enough so. We waited it put a little bit of lead in it. Was going to be one of those things that. A mortar has really does have that

look. Well what is it you're going to show us how to make something like this. I'm going to show you how to go through the process of making a really carving piece carvings or what we call in the round. They're three dimensional they're they're. Very big. All right all around it the relief Corbie is another special kind of little carving it's. It's trying to get the appearance of of the object. In just about this much. In a very thin. Raised. Figure of wood. And I'm going to walk through that process that technique with you and give you a chance to try it. It's hard to believe that we're going to get. That's beautiful. Us Your tools. I thought if we can slide this over here. We. Can move it.

That's the way with most good hobbies I take them all around. Yeah those are here right all right now. Now let me just show you something about the tools the basic tool for the woodcarver still the knife just looks just like a paring knife or. Smaller blade perhaps but it's it's basic you do most of the carving I do with with the knife. These other tools. Notice. This is a nice. Straight cutting edge right across the front. This is called. A firmer. Chisel a chisel is another word for a firmer. That's a new word. And you know the difference between the firmer and the chisel is that it's it's sharpened slightly differently. But what it is a chisel type at all. Now we

can take that same firmer and. Curve it a little bit. And this tool then is called the gouge and it essentially does just that gouges how would. You do at that. Increase your vocabulary words and we do anything for amount and I gouge and that's I guess you must have something narrower like on the walk you might say they come in a variety of sizes. And for example I can reach over here. Here's a smaller version of the gouge. So you can make the little narrow right little narrow gouge guts. I see that I mean that's about all the rough spots on them. So I'm glad to see you clean up to toolkit before you can really do work. I'm ashamed now. Jeff and Amy. What we're going to try to do in the next. Few

minutes is. Make a little mushroom. Notice the piece of wood I've got is very rough. It's rough on it's called. It just hasn't been smooth. Feel that and feel it. I. Chose it because it has a contrast it makes the mushroom look so much nicer when it's raining out of the very rough. Background of the wood. Well the first thing we will do is draw a picture of the mushroom on the block roughly where we want it. This is about where. Just draw right on the block it takes some time to develop the mushroom design that we're at or attribute. Once we have the design I can make a lot of them just like it with a little cardboard.

Did you make that up yourself. Yes. This is a project I'm one of my classes. So now that you've learned how would you teach it to other people. Yes that's a good way to get better. Now what we have to do is. Make cuts around this. Edge of this mushroom so that we can separate it from the rest of the world. And that I'll do with a very small firmer and my little mallet. I need one other. Instrument instruments and I hold it down close to the tip of the wood and just nice easy outline. See what I've

outlined. I'm beginning to outline the whole mushroom with vertical cuts. Well I never knew that's how you started out and never knew you needed one of these. But in the course of carving gets bigger the ballot and tools will get bigger. And this what's this little thing. Yes. One of the tricks of doing the woodcarving is try to hold the materials so that they don't move. They're dangerous. One could cut one so very severely. If it isn't held down and I this is called the wood carvers hold down device and I can slide the block around it hooks over the edge of the table. Make several of them of different size and accommodate.

A number of projects. I'm going to leave this one now. Here's one that I've I've done all the outlining on I've made the vertical cuts. It's separated from the background and I'm going to take some of this background away. And that's done with a gouge. With the curved tool that I showed you before and what I want to do is show you how to do this safely too. You want to keep your fingers behind the cutting edge. And I usually keep my finger on the tool so I know where it is and you start with little pushing cause and take these little chips off. I have to sweep up after that. All right. Aurora it was on fire. You're welcome. I think you'll find this is a very very clean.

Craft because the chips just sweep up. The. That must be a very sharp tool. It is. Now you can see that I've started the process of taking the background down all tape way back background out to the pencil line and I drew it. I have to go back several times and make the vertical cuts again because I haven't in the first try didn't get it deep enough to do it again and compared with the stage. Right. How much. Are you are you telling that I guess yes. Yes. Now would you like to try taking some of the background off. Why don't I just slide it over here. Way down here.

What happens if you slip. Why don't you go and supervise. This I can say help me. Yeah don't go too far and take the measure of the whole list with this and hold this up here like this and just push slowly Oh a little slot helps you stop. That's right. Matter of fact it's called a stop cut. They what is that. Speaking blow your chips away. Great. Now you can see where you've been. OK. It. You're going to be a good golfer. Well let me try. Let's look at something. But I think.

There we go don't work on the side. Amy hold this with your hand. That's it. That's it start up closer to the line. That's it. That's it. There you go. Is it hard on me. OK. Looks like pretty well. The polls are very very sharp having sharp tools as they go. Aurora is even getting interested. He says Boy that looks like something I like and that's that's. All there is to it. One thing I want to mention the background as we as we gather is these little marks out to be noticed. You can see that it makes a pattern while those patterns become part of the design Yes I am and I was admiring because that's what I like about your hair. You can actually see where the tools have been. I could use a smaller gouge and make a different pattern I don't like what

you do. That's what I've done with this one. See now this mushroom has been removed from the background of the background removed from the wood. So the mushroom stands out. Now I can start making it look like a mushroom. But notice the backgrounds a little different from the one we were working on. Just a different tool and a different effect. I know it's not something. That it smells bad. It does have a good smell. Now what I'd like to do. Let's put this one aside. Let's make out. We've. We've taken that figure and raised the background this far. Now what shape it will make it look like a mushroom. First thing I'll do here is draw on it a little bit more. I go back to the little picture I had we want to try to make this mushroom look like it's a full sized mushroom growing out of the back of a wood reach and withdraw some.

Some winds on it. To where that edge is. There and the shaping process. I'll use the primer. And I'll use the gouges again. I'll show you I'll do the same thing. Notice I'll hold it back here and start to shape this mushroom. Give it give it some mushroom type shape. It's getting all. Take a look at that. See. What he's doing. Yes I know. I thought Bill had used sandpaper but he says now it's all done with tools. That's right. Now you can see what you meant by having rough background with a smooth mushroom and. Even a knot hole adds to that. Now what we'll do is let's let's take a little bit of this outside and see how that is going to

look. Let's not use a small gouge for that purpose. See underneath the grains we want to we want to make the mushroom. Disappear into the block of wood by moving this back edge in those neat curls. And I was mostly working on something in the workshop. It would hang those curls over our ears. That gave me long curls. The next time you see a red carpet somewhere that you can stop and take a second look and think about what it would look like in the beginning and all the different tools that were used on it. And maybe what the artist was like because everybody does his own thing.

Yes. Beautiful moose. That's something like that is pretty tricky to settlers. What are they. Yes they are separate. There's a school of woodcarver who says that you should make all of your projects out of one block of wood. I haven't quite what difference as it turns out so well. Would you like to try using the gouge in the shape a little bit when it come around and. Show you again. How this tool is used exactly the same way and slide it along. Think so. Got one under there. Let's go first some you come to because that

has to happen sooner or later anyhow. See how you need it. Smooth chips. You have to know when to stop. The beginner usually stops too soon. And then we raise it up. But we call it out. We want real dynamic. Shape to it. Well thank you very much. Keep on working with him. That's fine. I just have my friends son. I hope you enjoyed meeting Bill Brown and seeing some of the many things that go into woodcarving and maybe you can try out a simple project maybe a mushroom a mushroom come right out a little block of wood but be very careful because the tools are sharp. Thanks for coming and come back on again. This.

Program was made possible by members of the. Public. Recorded at. The studios of the Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting.