Acanthus leaves Norsk Wood Works class project...

[mdallensr]

Great carving. I've talked to them about their course, and want to attend when I can schedule it. I bought some of their patterns and have carved a couple of their pieces. Keep at it while the learning is fresh. Maybe next year..... Mike

[Thor]

Mike, you will learn so much that it is well worth it.
Plus, the added bonus is the atmosphere, the fall leaves turning in Wisconsin, the food...oh my goodness...the food that Else prepared each day for lunch!...and the company. Else and Phil are the best, and their students were like family to each other after sometimes years of carving together and each was very welcoming. I really do wish I could go back each year.
I know they are writing a new book soon, and I will definitely be getting a copy when they publish it.
Christina

[DiamondWillow]

Christina

Your work looks very very nice, keep up the good work. I am so interested where in Wisc you took the classes. My wife and I went through Baronett, Wisconsin where they used to be at and their shop down town was closed. We were told they were at another town or way out in the country. No one seemed to be very sure. Please fill us in, or at least fill me in..... Would like to take a class from them some time.

Again, good work on your part

Gene

[Thor]

Hi Gene,
There studio is about 8 or 9 miles from Baronette. Phil's mother used to run the shop in the little town of Baronette for them, but she just got too old to keep it up apparently. The shop was doing very well from what I understood though.
If you check out their web site at Norsk Wood Works -- Norwegian Wood Carvers and Carving Woods then you can contact them.
They were talking about scheduling another class over the winter in addition to the usual fall and spring classes that they have been teaching. You may be able to take advantage of that. The studio is open by appointment only.

One of the projects currently in Phil's studio is the door portal for the largest stave church ever to be carved in the US. It will be installed in California somewhere. The carvings are amazing. The are as near to an exact replica of a Norwegian stave church that can be carved and in exact scale. (I touched them). Else has a gold medal from the Vesterheim Museum for Norwegian/ American cultural artwork. What's New at Vesterheim She was also published in Fine Woodworking Magazine years ago for a bench that she carved and built...the bench is in their living room and I sat on it. These are museum quality carvers. Amazing to see how focused and genuinely helpful they are. Phil studied under the master carver Johan Amrud.

I hope some of this information is helpful.
Please contact me or ask if I can answer anything else.
Christina

[DiamondWillow]

Christina

Thanks for all the information, sorry we missed them when we were through the area. We did get to stop at a town a few towns North of there where the fellow did a whole bunch of work on the life of Jesus. Including the last supper (full size) and a whole bunch of other life size carvings. It was totally amazing.

I am going to have to get in touch with them. Thanks again for your input.

Gene

[Thor]

Gene, I saw the Woodcarving Museum of that gentleman's work as well. It was really moving how much of himself he put into that life time of carvings. I am glad to have seen it and glad that it is still in one collection. That was in Shell Lake, which was where I stayed in a hotel while there.

[paolo59]

Christina, do you need special tools to carve this kind of patterns? I mean a lot of bent and spoon bent gouges?
Compliments for the result; it's amazing

[Thor]

Hi Paolo,
I used mostly gouges with 5, 7 and 9 sweeps, and a very large skew, as well as a V tool and I did get to try out many tools in their studio that I do not own myself. They stressed getting it done with clean "walls" to the edges and used big tools to make a clean and wide sweep to do it.
No bent or spoon gouges on this piece at all.

I hope that answered your question.
Christina

[paolo59]

Thank you very much Christina,

yes, this is what I need to know; now I have just to try!! , no excuses