First, I gotta pay Tribute to the Masters, then pass it on......

[fredxmertz]

 
Tree Spirit by Jim Nelson

I never met this 'Gentleman Jim'  I just see many of his carvings around the broom shop, and hear Thurman's stories about how this guy never called himself a woodcarver, he was just a sheep rancher, and he had a large family, and the kids would help him with finer details of the carvings, so he could kind of  establish an assembly line, Jim would carve the large, primary features, and the kids would carve in the hair, beard, eye details.

The Tree Spirit above is carved into sassafrass, an extremely durable type of wood with a tight grain that holds detail well.  Unf'ly, the shop doesn't get sassafrass anymore, but we are happy to use locally sourced sticks from conservation projects.

Another story Thurman tells is that Jim Nelson, being very humble, had started on a large piece for an exhibition, and onlookers were astonished to see how quickly the carving took shape, I think it was an eagle, Thurman said, and also that one of Jim's pieces was featured at a presidential library, I remember looking it up at the time, and not seeing anything, but the legend continues.

In my capacity, I'm kind of 'forced' to call myself a woodworker, I guess, as its the primary thing I do, processing sticks and doing the carvings, with a mallet and steel gauges. 

So here goes my step-by-step, using a Chunky Filbert stick (to carve on)
The stick should sit tightly in a vice, and I wrap the stick with a bit of leather, so that the vice doesn't leave marks (on the stick!).
So, above the eyes and below the nose, using a small V gauge
I do horizontal cuts with the mallet in my right hand and the gauge in my left,

The first step is to cut these horizontal lines, the top line will be above where the eyes will go, and the lower line will have a kind of undercut, to form a kind-of ledge that will be the bottom of the nose.  
Next, I get a 'flat' gauge

and, I do some reductive carving!  Removing wood around what will become a forehead and that nose ledge .  I'll use the 'flat' gauge to cut vertically
Then, I reach for a U gauge, to do round sockets for the eyes.

Notice how I try to leave on as much moss, lichen or fungi as I can!
My next cuts will use a smaller U gauge, to shape the eyes and nose, more-or-less at the same time
I start making vertical cuts upward, then turn to cut deeper into the eye sockets 

Easy peezy.
I'll use that same small U gauge to give him some forehead lines
he worries too much

I also do a vertical cut downwards, to make a kind of cleft between the eyebrows.
Then, I'll pick up my sharpest V gauge, to do his hair, 

I'll usually try to leave some bark between the hairs for a sharp contrast, but the bark will often fall off!  There are things about a stick that may defy control, they're WILD!  Our sticks are kiln-dried, but we don't do any sanding or lacquering or anything to them...
More cuts with the sharpest V gauge, to do his eyebrows, and some laugh lines
Then stay with that sharp V gauge, to shape the nose.

Noses are my achilles heel.  I want them to be sharp, as I see my old carvings and say 'flat nose, ugh'

Oops, someone got impatient and skipped ahead a bit, that's OK!
You can see he's got a kind of M shaped mouth.  M is for mouth.
I use the V gauge for the 'mouth line' in that 'M shape', then under that, i use a large U gauge to round out the area under the lip.
This frame shows that his mustache has already started to grow, as well.

The beard follows, and I'll give him pupils, and add more eye detail.  I don't have a bunch of kids to fill in the details for me, but that's OK!

This carving was on a Fiblert stick.  At the shop we get Viney Maple, Big-Leaf Maple, Hawthorne, Madrone, Cherry, Apple, Blue Elderberry, and more.

Our stick suppliers like to train honeysuckle vines to climb the trees, and that makes for some really beautiful sticks with spiral indentations.

The carved brooms and walking sticks are available at www.broommagic.com, and thru 'Broomchick' on Etsy.  That's the Shceumack Broom Company.

Thanks again for finding me here.
Be excellent to each other

Comments

[kadenza]

Very cool! thank you for sharing the entire process.