Political Life: The Head on a platter sculpture

In life, you risk your public face every now and again.
In political life, your public face is the first thing your opponent wants to exploit.

The Republicans want the Democrats and the Democrats want the Republicans to end up on a platter with an apple stuffed in his or her mouth, served up by the media for the voting public to see in the full undignified repugnance that will win votes for there side of the political universe. Allowing them to wield the power of a nation by request of the angered public.

This was another enjoyable piece to create. It is fit together like a puzzle and as with all of my work it is finished with a hand rubbed oil and buffed to a high sheen by using a mixture of Bee and Carnauba wax.

The Frog and his Pad are still available on eBay!

Go and take a look and maybe you can give him a new place to call home!

He is the perfect holiday gift for the Frog lover on your holiday list!

Nice Dreams

This piece was finished a while back. I will post more information on it a bit later. For now just have a look at some of the pictures.

It is the story of a cat and it's dream of flight.

This was a fun piece to work on. The top is a book-match from a solid burl.

The Frog and his Pad are still available on eBay

go and take a look and maybe you can give him a new place to call home!

The Seahorse the process continues

After the initial rough out work was completed with an electric chain saw and a grinder it was time to move on to the second and much more time consuming non power hand tool work.

I use several different chisels and carving tools to do the fine and detailing work in my pieces.

I also use sand paper. A whole lot of sand paper.

The devil is in the details on this little guy. Hours and hours of detail work to be honest.

I still have more detailing and sanding to go before starting to apply the oil to the Seahorse.

I will have another post up soon to show the rest of the work.

the Seahorse in process

I have started a new piece from a rather large section of the Raspberry burl.

A little quick history on the Raspberry burl.

This was one of the only times I have ever found a whole tree that was nothing but solid burl.

This Maple tree had lived many many years and had been completely turned into a burl. Right down to the roots, which I have also used in some of the pieces. This "tree" was nearly 5 full feet in diameter. It took 3 days during freezing weather and occasional heavy snowfall to take the remnants of the "tree" from the original location.

I only harvested this tree because the property owner had decided that the tree had become an eye sore and was attempting to have a tree removal service run the whole tree into a chipper.

It would have been a tragic waste of an excellent maple burl.

This section of the burl reminded me of a Seahorse in some ways So that is what it is on it's way to becoming.

I started with an electric chain saw. It allowed large amounts of the burl to be removed quickly and the seahorse to emerge from within the wood.

After a short time the seahorse has started to emerge and it is about time to switch over on the tools.

Next up - chisels and hand sanding.

The Frogs Pad

The Frog's Pad is an inviting and friendly little guy.

He stands by welcoming one and all back to his Pad. He has lived a difficult life having dealt with his trials and tribulations from early on in his life. An encounter with a curious child left him with only one eye. An adventure on the road left him with a permanent limp and an odd jumping nature.

From Raspberry Collection Sample

The Frog itself is made from a single, solid Apple Wood Burl. It was hand carved over a period of several months and was completed in March of 2007.

The Frogs Pad is made of Balsam Wood, a soft yet friendly wood for carving. It also allowed for the curving formations to bring the Frogs Pad to life.

From Raspberry Collection Sample

Approxamate Dimensions:
Width: 18 inches
Depth: 20 Inches
Overall Hieght: 30 Inches
Pad: 23-1/2 Inches
Frog: 7-1/2" Inches Tall
Total Wieght: 16 Pounds

The Wood Elf

Hand crafted solid burl carvings, art and furnishings.

Jay's latest full collection, the Raspberry Burl collection, has been in process for nearly 10 years. The hand crafting of each piece is performed in a small shop located in Connecticut.

Some of the pieces have taken years to complete.

Jay Dimick performs all the work himself, by hand.

Each piece finished with a hand oiling process that can take months to complete. It is the oil finishing that draws out the full depth of the fires, knots and grain ribbons that Jay's collections are known for. It is this attention to detail that allows the inner glow and full depth of the wood's natural fires and beauty to come to the surface.

By hand and not by machinery.
 
It adds hundreds of hours to the process, a process that already requires hundreds of hours from the start, but the end result is worth every moment to Jay and to the fortunate owners of pieces from his previous collections.

We will start to showcase some of the pieces in the current Raspberry collection here as well as some of the new pieces in the upcoming collection while they are in process.

We will post announcements for new gallery events and other showings as they approach.


In addition to posting artwork and public offerings from his collections, Jay will use this blog to post information and knowledge about burl selection, woodworking, finishing and tool care that is essential for woodworkers. Jay has spent over thirty years mastering the art of woodworking and teaching many people how to work with wood, not against the grain.

If you have points and tips that could be usefull or new ways of looking at old problems post them here or e-mail Jay directly at BurlWoodElf