Anyone tell me about yam carving

[nrscroller]

Hi
Somewhere on here I read about carving yams. I guess it was in an older issue of the magazine. Does anyone have that copy and could make me copies of it and email it to me. I'd like to try it for begining and learning to shape. Email is klopper_54017@yahoo.com
Thanks
Bill

[jmischel]

Bill

I don't have the magazine article, but I do have Tom Wolfe's book on the subject. There's really not much to carving yams: carve it, stick it somewhere warm and dry for a month or two, then take and paint it.

Of course, there's something to the "carve it" part. Wolfe's book has step-by-step instructions for carving a wood spirit into the yam. If you find a wood spirit tutorial somewhere else, you could easily adapt it from wood to yam. (A yam spirit?)

If you want a copy of the article, you'll either have to buy the back issue of the magazine or a reprint of the article. I think either can be ordered from the publisher. See links under the Magazine section to the left of this page.

[Donna_T]

What he said....

And, one of the neat features of carving a sweet potatoe (YAM) is that if you leave the peeling on in some spots, it dries (warps) differently than the rest of the tater. If you do them in the winter, and have a wood burning fireplace or stove where you can put the carving nearby, the carving will dry much faster and usually. When I carved them last, I did all "wood spirit" like carvings, sharpened one end of a dowel rod (about the size of a pencil) and rammed it into the bottom side of the carving. When dried, I painted the eyes and added some color to the hat, and they now reside in potted houseplants to ward off "spirits."

Donna T

[BobD]

Here's the link to the article we had in the magazine and the link to order the back issue.

Fall 2008 issue #44, Page(s):40-41
Buy Now

Bob