Hello from England!

Eleanor · #11 08-19-2006, 11:07 PM

Thanks so much to all you carvers for being so welcoming. And to think I thought I was all alone in this odd obsession of mine!

Paul, yes, slow is my way - at carving school the teacher would inspect the chips for size and look stern if they were too small, which they usually were...

Hi Dylan I'm not sure I really have a style yet, or a system other than measure and cut with the biggest gouge I dare...lots of measuring, the clay head I made is on a base the same size as my original block.

Hi Bill & Whitecree, and thanks for the encouragement!

Charlotte, Kent is about an hour away from me and South of the Thames - Maidstone is still very pretty, rather posh and respectable. What did your ancestors get up to there?

Hi David, yes Austrian old masters is right ( and you flatter my efforts!) Viet Stoss is my main man....the school was Giesler-Moroder in Elbigenalp.

Hi Bart and Bob, thanks for the welcome, yes it is sort of enjoyable, if a bit stressful. I have a deadline for this one, a competition to enter, just to keep the pressure up!

And hi Kathy yes Chelmsford is about an hour away, I know there is a very active carving club there.I see them demoing at craft fairs.

Well I shall make a thread on this job in the works in progress section - that way I can keep checking on everyone else's project daily too, very motivating!
All the best folks and thanks again for the welcomes!

santagibbs · #12 08-20-2006, 10:11 AM

Hello Eleanor, keep us posted on your progress, which I must say, is great for a beginner.. As far as my relatives , I think they owned a clap board mill in the 1800's, whatever that was! I do haved some old pictures of Maidstone that is on a fold down postcard and it appeared to be a pretty place. They came to New York , then to Indiana, and then to Mt. Carmel , Ill. Keep in touch and show us your progress.. Charlotte

Mottles · #13 08-20-2006, 12:01 PM

Hi Eleanor, my friends in Chemsford are wonderful folks. Ted is very talented and works in the beautiful art of 'marquetry.' They have crossed the pond twice to visit us and we had a lovely time. It was such fun comparing England and the USA likes and differences.
Looking forward to following along with your progress on your current project.
Kathy

GeorgiaCarver · #14 08-20-2006, 02:33 PM

Hello and welcome aboard. If that is your first carving you are going to have a great hobby/career! Please keep us posted on the progress.

Greg

Eleanor · #15 08-21-2006, 05:37 AM

Hi there Greg, Kathy & CHarlotte, thanks again, I will have a thread of that piece on the Work in Progress page called something snappy like "Carving long curly hair in England" . Kathy I will look out for marquetrists called Ted at the Tree Woodworking Festival I'm off to on Friday! Charlotte here is a Kentish clapboard mill in Wickhambreaux - quite an impressive sight - these wooden clad buildings ("Weatherboarded") are only found in a few counties over here, British weather makes their upkeep difficult. Ok, back to work, see you all later -

santagibbs · #16 08-21-2006, 04:20 PM

HI Eleanor, what a beautiful picture .. I will send it to my cousin.. He has a lot of old letters from the family in Kent in the eighties . Thanks so much for sending the picture . I really apprediate it. Ijust love pictures of old buildings and now one of a clap board mill. That is so cool...Charlotte

santagibbs · #17 08-21-2006, 04:51 PM

Eeanor, I am going to try and post three pictures from a postcard Album .. The Album is called " Rock's Royal Cabinet Album of Maidstone...Rock Brother's Lilmited London." My cousin has the Albumand I scanned it to my computer. It has over twenty pictures in it of Maidstone during the eighteen hundreds..probably late eighteen. I always thought of Maidstone as this little Village during that time with little thatched roofs but you can see how wrong I was , it must have been a very nice town. It even had a castle in there.

santagibbs · #18 08-21-2006, 04:57 PM

Eleanor, as you can see I sure did something wrong.. I will try one more time.. Charlotte

Eleanor · #19 08-21-2006, 09:44 PM

Aha Charlotte, now I remember, my friend Jane had a sculpture exhibition at Maidstone museum and an artist in residency, we went to the show in that very building. There was some good old ( 17th cent and older) carved furniture in there too. Recognised it a s soon as I saw that postcard of yours!

santagibbs · #20 08-21-2006, 10:20 PM

How about that.?.still standing. Thanks for the story.. I will add that to my cousin also...Charlotte