[susieq]

Hello, Just came in from the shop after 6 glorious hours of un interupted carving....boy those days are few and far between. I cut out my blank for the state fair entry a couple of months ago, did some roughing on it and then had to put it down for a while. Other stuff got in the way, like my regular job, house work, visiting out of state, etc.... I finally got back in the shop this past Thursday and got to put in 3 or 4 hours. Worked at the office Friday and carved all day today (except for an hour or so when a friend dropped by). With any luck, tomorrow will be a repeat after church. This years piece is Father Christmas galloping along on a pig with attitude. The pig is definately a boar, though not anatomically correct. Santa will be clutching a teddy bear and candy cane...with (if I can swing it) a jack in the box riding behind him looking back the way they came. The base will be mahogany. I had to glue up some thick planks of basswood for the piece. I had done a smaller version of this figure a few years ago and it turned out pleasingly so I blew the pattern up several sizes and then glued up the wood to match. If I ever figure out how to post a photo on here, I will do so.

I had just downloaded the entry forms from the fair and will fill it out and mail it Monday.....just to put the pressure on to get this project finished on time. Time is always a problem since I don't work real fast.
susieq

[Mark N. Akers]

SusiQ:
Great idea would love to see it when your done,also enjoyed looking at your website,I am very partial to Santas and Ornaments,keep up the great work.

[Nancy-ID]

Wow Susie, you do EXCELLENT work!!!

[wood-whittler]

susan,

would like to see the finished project, i looked at your site and really like your ornaments. great work thanks for sharing.

bart

[GeorgiaCarver]

I too just looked at your site, excellent work! Thank you for sharing.

Greg

[bygeorge]

SusiQ, really nice site. Nice original ideas on both the Santas and ornaments. If you get a chance, give us some progress photos on your project.

Chuck

[susieq]

Thanks guys,
as you could probably tell, I am obsessive/compulsive over Father Christmas figures. I hope to post some pics if I can ever figure out how to re size them for the posting. I know you are supposed to reduce the size on them but I don't know how..... I don't have a good photo editing program on the computer yet.

As for the website, I see that you all have some wonderful sites too.... Mark, your stuff is terrific. Love the Santas especially. And the native American pieces are great. You use butternut for those? Beautiful finish on them, nice patina.

Nancy, I love frogs.....what a cute idea. We have quite a few around here...tree froggies, toads, etc...my little buddies...along with the lizards that run everywhere. And I absolutely adore your woodburning of the wolf. Awesome!

Greg, you do a little of everything... I love the gift basket idea with "lighter" in it. We heat with a wood stove here in Florida, believe it or not. We use that to get the oak burning. Cypress knees make perfect santas, don't they? They are already the perfect shape. My mom used to carve cypress knees quite often.

Chuck, your site is pretty smooth. You do lots of different things too....which are your favorites? Birds, caricatures, gnomes, or Santas? I bet the birds take the longest to do.... You all put me to shame with the variety of things each of you do.
susieq



Thanks again for your comments.
susieq

[justanick]

WOW! Great carvings. I like the way you do the beards.
How long have you been carving? thanks for sharing your work with us.

[susieq]

Hi Justanick,
Thanks for your kind words. I have been carving for about 14 years or so. The beards are the icing on the cake, aren't they? Roughing a piece is the least fun, but doing the detail is what I live for.

With Santa figures being whimsical, there is no limit to what you can imagine for them. I prefer the old style Father Christmas types personally, but there is something for everyone, style wise, in santa carving.

susieq

[Clifford_Parker]

susieq,

Jpegs can be resized in MS Paint. Simply open the original, click Image, Stretch/Skew, and resize both vertical and horizontal to less than 100%. The file size can be checked by clicking on Image, Attributes.

Always save the resized pic under a new name to retain your original.