A Difficult Egg

[mpounders]

The instructions provided said "keep carving the flower and leaves until someone asks you how you got the flower to stick to that egg. Then you will know you have it right." At first glance that would sound like the difficult part!
A lady at the last carving club meeting provided a rectabular piece of wood, some brief instructions (I believe based on a WCI article), and a carved example of a wooden egg with a flower on it, for us to duplicate. At first glance, it seemed simple and easy enough project, but as I carved and carved and carved, making an impressive pile of chips, I discovered that making a nice wooden egg without a lathe requires a lot of work! I can be stubborn and I was determined to get an egg shape no matter how long it took! I was so proud when I finally got some thing that didn't look like a football. I spent quite a few hours over the past month working on that simple shape with just knives. When I had it really close, I used a small sanding drum on my flex tool to smooth it out. The instructions and example left more knife marks showing, but I like my eggs smooth! The dogwood blossom took a lot less time, but I took the instructions to heart and took extra time to try and achieve more realism in the carving. I used a pyrographic pen to shade and add details to the flowers and leaves. I paint a lot of my carvings, which hides some of the cool effects that you can get with burning, so I decided to leave this unpainted and just finish it with a boiled linseed oil mixture. Thank's for looking.

[uvawyo]

It's mighty pretty, Mike. How did you get that flower to sick to that egg hehe.

[Nomad]

Very lovely! It might be a tad easier, though, if you buy a basswood egg to start with. Just sayin'.

[Mark Dellinger]

Mike,

Simple or not, you made this look really good. Thanks for sharing.

Safe Carving and God Bless,

Mark

[mpounders]

What, you can buy basswood eggs? Why didn't anyone tell me? Just kidding....part of the challenge for me was to make the egg with a knife and not use a lathe or other methods to get the shape. It was a good exercise, a way to warm up the old carving muscles!

[mpounders]

I guess I could try carving a basswood chicken next?

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

Nice job Mike!

Dave

[Sharon of the Dell]

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!!! Heck of a nice egg Mike!

[Nomad]

Originally Posted by mpounders

I guess I could try carving a basswood chicken next?

That would certainly answer the question of which came first. LOL!

[Ed Redwine]

I really like this Mike. Consider doing some with chicken size eggs for a beautiful and different ornament. I've been doing some chip carved eggs but may graduate to flowers after seeing yours. Nice job.