An ORGY of Blisters (in Hickory)!

[nameless]

The title says it all, except that this 'came' after an orgy of study of South Seas traditional weaponry and their elaborate surface decorations. Then 'this' was born from a RR pickaxe handle.
Enjoy!

[nameless]

[steve12345]

Very intricate work, What a great piece of art

[mpounders]

Nice stuff man! That makes my fingers cramp just thinking about carving all that. I'm working on a piece of what I think is hickory, but it is still green. It is not too bad, but I have already snapped the ends off a couple of utility knives.

[blackhorse]

Great Work! What did you use as research sources for your study? Books ...Internet? Your detail looks very thurough, I would love to read the souces you used.
Al

Originally Posted by nameless

The title says it all, except that this 'came' after an orgy of study of South Seas traditional weaponry and their elaborate surface decorations. Then 'this' was born from a RR pickaxe handle.
Enjoy!

[Marvin Little]

Mike, if you think that your green hickory is hard just wait until it dries. Great work on the pick axe handles. I never thought of that as a source of handles. I have several wood chopping mall handles that broke off. I will have to check their length.

Marvin

[nameless]

Note; The designs in the carving though traditional, are 'original' (my interpretations).

Originally Posted by blackhorse

Great Work! What did you use as research sources for your study? Books ...Internet? Your detail looks very thurough, I would love to read the souces you used.
Al

Yes, internet and internet books. There was some relatively negligible hands on, but very little, so i had to translate the visual and mental from the net.
We are talking years here.
I downloaded a copy of George Clunie's famous and rare book (lots of pix)
Lots of stuff like THIS
And THIS
And THIS
Maybe THIS
and THIS
Perhaps THIS
Maybe HERE
or HERE
or HERE
HERE
or HERE
etcetera
Etcetera (good site)
here

add to this sort of thing, that I examine every 'antique' (and modern) club that comes down the pike on ebay (and buy one here and there; hands on is a whole new world!)...

I tried to leave no rock unturned.
Finally, there seems to be an 'empathy' with the carvers throughout history, an 'understanding', a 'continuity'... And it was at this point that I took knife in hand and proceeded to play. The carvings, connected to that 'spirit', made themselves, I felt simply like the 'grunt' technician! heh... as if something larger then my little corner of the world was expressing itself through my hands... I was smiling and actually laughing at some of the humor expressed in some subtle way in some of the carvings, a connection in the Now! with that carver from another Now!

I hope that you have some fun with this short list, as i said, years of dedicated research was/is involved (for me, anyway), and this is a representative sampling.

peace

[SeaLeveler]

A beautiful looking job there on an artfully designed stick.Pretty good for a axe handle.Tony

[nameless]

Originally Posted by SeaLeveler

A beautiful looking job there on an artfully designed stick.Pretty good for a axe handle.Tony

Thanx.
I might not have mentioned that the cross-section of the stick is an elongated diamond.
Yeah, I did ruin a perfectly good RR pickaxe handle, but that aged and cured piece of carefully selected (for grain tightness, direction and consistancy) hickory has it's own 'charm'!

[blackhorse]

Thank you, your list was very helpful. You know, when you study enough of a style( or art form) that your reach the point where you can effectivley "interpret" the original artists (or cultural design) with your own inputs, that is the point when you truly honor the artist. Anyone can copy a style, not many can study and truly "contribute" something. You should be very proud.

I saw a Maouri Spear (Taiaha) that was simply amazing. I have been looking for more info on the mauri style ever since.

By the way, I really like the inlay and the lizard set withing the pattern. Very nice!
Al