[jillsy]

This past weekend, Ted and I took the babies to visit the Baltimore Aquarium. While in MD, we stopped by Goody's and met the man himself, along with Anna, her mom, and good ol' Ashby!

This was better than the aquarium! Despite 90 degree weather, Goody dressed in a red thermal shirt with black suspenders to play Santa for my newly 3-year-old, Mary. At first, she was petrified, but warmed up to him (especially after he gave both kids a handcarved, handpainted Santa in red velvet bags!) Goody not only sharpened all my knives and gouges, but also gave me a lesson on the proper way to cut and sharpen (while Ash gave me lessons on the Civil War!)

There was a faint groan in the room when I mentioned we were "Yankees"! But, they still showed southern hospitality and fed us Italian sausage sandwiches, chocolate cheezcake, and drinks.

We also got a tour of Goody's wood and bike workshops, while Anna gave me lots of tips on painting.

It was a great time and alot of fun actually meeting some fellas from the wood carving forum. When we were backing out of the driveway and Goody had already walked back into his shop, we heard a tiny voice in the backseat say, "Bye Santa Cwas." It made our whole weekend!

Thanks Goody, Anna, and Ash! (And thanks to Anna's mom for keeping an eye out on the babies when things were getting busy!)

Jillsy

[decoycarve]

Now there are two children that have no problem making Santas good girls and boys list. Three hours in a strange place and no fits, temper tantrums, crying, or misbehaving. Little Nick was just content being passed around from one persons arms to another, even wound up in Santas lap. Mary did warm up but I didn't want her to be afraid of Santa. As far as the shirt and suspenders, I did bring a tshirt but forgot a belt. Ya can't put pants on a beachball without something to hold them on. No belt and no suspenders, we don't want to go there!!!

Jillsy, it was great to meet you and your family. Jillsy is an energetic sponge absorbing so much information she is about ready to explode woodchips. There is so much information on the board that it can get overwhelming. I hope we were able to tie some of this info together for you. I really wish you would have brought something you were working on so we could help you with the style you are trying to develop. I did study your posts of your santas in the gallery and decided it would be good to spend a little time on the faces, you picked up very quickly on how to get some dimension in the face.

There are no better days than those spent passing on to others what some carvers taught me. You guys made my day!
Isn't it funny how a little piece of wood, a few tools and some curiosity, transform into knowledge and friends!

Goody
PS. Sorry about the biker sticker. (Remind me tell you the story about the ribbons and bows and banning Anna from the back shops)

[Ashbys]

Jillsy ,
Was a pleasure to meet you and your family.
If you ever want to get rid of them give me a shout, I am sure the wife and I can make room for two of the greatest kids. Been a long time since I held an eight-month old.
I have to tell you I am a bit jealous though, the first time I went to Goody's he gave me a roughout, took his pencil, marked the arms area to cut away, then showed me how to seperate the hands and said have fun...
You he shows how to do the face what to cut back for a hair line , how to cut the eye area , how to ect ect .....
Damn good thing there were no flys in the room or they would have been in my opened mouth! When I said WOW so that was what a real lesson was like when you left, I though Bob was going to fall out of his chair laughing.

I told you Goody thinks I am a slacker ...jeeze

Hey Joe , Looks like he got another one.
LOL
Ash

[squbrigg]

So good to see our family getting together like that. It is so refreshing in this crazy world, and says so much about the carvers community, and Southern hospitality of course. A great group of human beings.

Give the kids a hug from us all here on the board, Jillsy.

Bob

[Callynne]

Sounds like a perfect day to me, Jillsy! I'm definitely going to find Goody and Anna next time I'm down that way....hope you're there then too Ash! Deborah

[Ron Davidson]

I will have to see if I can run into anybody while I am in New York state.
Ron

[Ashbys]

You never know about me , I been found to show up in some pretty strange places , but if Anna keeps feeding me I might move in !

Ash

[Tom H]

Jillsy, Sounds like a great weekend to me.This goes a long way in illustrating what I have found out about wood carvers. Fantastic talent and a real willingness to share. Tom H