[Callynne]

I haven't been around lately because my two 'out of state' Grandchildren came in for their visit two weeks early....right in the middle of me trying to get a Theme piece done for the Cooks Forest Carving Show.

The theme was Seasons of the Forest. I had this terrific idea in my head. A wall hanging about 8" x 28" with four relief carvings representing the four seasons, I'd carve the frame out of the same piece of wood. Paint the 'pictures' in gentle washes of color, barely tinting them. The 'frame' would be stained a dark color and the background would be the natural wood color. I 'saw' it done up perfectly....wrong!!!

First, in my heavy handed way, the wood burning of the bear and deer left way too much 'charcoal' look to the wood for a gentle wash of anything. Well, I thought, that's okay, heavier painting will blend in better with the dark frame and stand out better against the natural wood color background.

Wrong again, the wood took the stain horribly! I had even put sealer on it figuring it might since basswood is so soft. I tried telling myself the second coat of stain would be perfect, wrong yet again!

So I ended up painting the frame. The natural background was a good idea though, right?! NOT! It looked terrible too, so the day this piece had to be submitted I'm painting the background, first I tried blue....WOW....was that terrible looking! Really desperate now I painted it a light brown, and then antiqued over it. I literally was blow drying (a great tip from this site) the thing every few minutes trying to get it dry. Hubby says it was still tacky carrying it in to the show!

Anyhow, this long story had a happy ending! The piece won three ribbons, Best of Theme, First Place and Best of Division! All for a piece that turned out completely different from how I had planned on it looking! Sometimes mistakes can be good things! Here's a couple pictures of it, hope you all like it too!

Oh, and last but not least, my Fairy on the Quilt that was featured in WCI summer issue....won Best of Show, First Place and Best of Divison! And my Mountain Man cottonwood bark carving won a Second Place Ribbon! What started out as a terrible experience turned out to be one of my best ones ever!! Deborah

[Just Carving]

So, what you're saying is even at your worst, you do your best!?!?

BRAVO!
Congrats on your unexpected success! Nice work, too!

[Anthony Filetti]

Way to go Deb!!!

[Nancy_G]

Giant APPLAUSE
This is great news. I'm very pleased for you....... jealous but pleased

[AlArchie]

Deborah, your work is ALWAYS first class! Kinda wierd how the wood somtimes dictates what is to become, huh! Gotta listen to the wood!

Al

[Ashbys]

Ok , can i have a bit of your luck ....

LOL

Very Nice ! And very well done !

Ash

[Callynne]

Thanks guys! Just Carving, what a nice thing to say! I sure didn't think anything like that at the time though!! That piece was one nerve wracking experience and when I took it up there I sure didn't think it was very good! And of course, I had hubby unhappy with me because once again I waited till the last minute to do something I had ALL YEAR to do!

The Show part was so terrific. I met Oaktree57 there, that was great, to meet someone from this message board! And Nancy, Dale Doctor was there too and he won First Place Ribbons also!

Al, you're right, sometimes the wood wins out, I need to 'listen' to it more!! Thanks again, everyone! Deborah

[Irish]

Wow! Just great and well deserved ribbons.

Susan

[Kenny_S]

Jolly good showing Deb!
See ,there is always a silver lining in them dark clouds.

[Thor]

Wonderful pieces all three, and well deserved awards.
The seasons one is just perfect. Great idea, theme, colors, finish, the frame is an excellent compliment to it, and I just plain like it a lot.
Congrats on all.
I was so inspired by your box in the WCI issue that I'm on my second one with my medieval theme now. Thanks for that article.
Thor