Family Tree(s)

Family Tree

This was a commission from a long time colleague from Edmonton, celebrating their 20th anniversary and the joining together of families, a mother, daughter, and husband. The central tree is larger to symbolize strength and unity.

My wife Kathleen came up with the idea of three trees twisting together, with conjoined roots.

I carved this in basswood, finished with wood butter from Wagner Hills Market, and is 8 1/2” x 11” x 1” thick.

The tools I used were primarily carving gouges, everything from a number 2 sweep, 15 mm wide, to a number 9 sweep, 1 mm wide. Deciding how to carve the leaves was a head-scratcher for me until I was working on another carving and found the solution. I simply used a number 7 sweep gouge about 6mm wide, and plunged it into the wood on one side before plunging it into the wood on the opposite side and out popped a leaf! Some of them needed a little cleaning up at the bottom so I carved a centre line using a micro v gouge from Flexcut Tools.

Carving a Knot

Carved Knot

Several months ago I saw a black and white photograph posted on Instagram by @jsollows, a local photographer, and it really struck a chord (and a cord) with me. I contacted him about carving it and he agreed that I could.

I started with a 1 inch thick piece of basswood, and cut it to 8.5”x11” square. Then I transferred the image to the wood, and started setting in the depth by cutting around the ropes and carving from the edges to these stop-cuts.

Setting the depth and outline.

Carving the general shape.

Textured rope, smooth background

Softening the edges.

All in all, it was a fun project that I probably completed in about 8 hours of carving time, not including research and, well, time spent pondering my next move. This one is headed to Jim’s place sometime soon.

Title: Knotted Relief

Material: basswood, 8.5”x11”x1”

Finish: wood butter (a blend of natural oil and beeswax.

Carving a (Famous) Lion

Two Bearded Fellows

I was privileged to be able to do a relief carving for the entrance door to the new C.S. Lewis and Friends Collection at Trinity Western University in the Norma Marion Alloway Library. I worked with the Librarian who confirmed with the donor that this project was approved. Throughout the process my drawings and clay maquette were reviewed and the theme emerged as I worked first on paper, then in clay, and finally in wood.

Pottery Clay (can you see a lion in there?)

The new collection is in this room.

I struggled with the mane

I tried numerous ways of designing the mane. I tried extruding hair using my wife’s potato ricer. It kinda worked but then I realized there was no good way to carve that. Then we went to Europe, specifically London, Paris, and multiple cities in Italy. We visited the National Gallery in London, the Louvre in Paris, and many galleries in Italy, including the Vatican in Rome and the Iffizi Gallery in Florence. I paid a lot of attention to how the ancient sculptors carved lions and manes and hair in general. I came back and tried this:

Clay Mane

It was still a little flat for my liking and too busy with all the little lines carved into each clump of hair.

A lion emerges

The mane and unfinished eyes

If you haven’t guessed yet, this lion is supposed to be Aslan. Carving such a famous character from literature and the allegorical figure he portrays in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, was a bit terrifying for me. The famous description of Aslan by Mr. Beaver kept running through my mind as I carved this: “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver … “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he is good. He’s the King, I tell you.” Trying to achieve something of this in a piece of wood may be the hardest thing I have ever done to date.

Aslan, 13”x16”x 2 1/2” carved in basswood.

Unique Cherry Plate

I have carved a few of these bread plates over the years. I thought about numbering them, but that’s normally reserved for copies, such as prints of a painting, where the artist makes a limited number available. These are not like that. These bread plates are all unique for two reasons.

The first reason they are unique is because each piece of wood is 100% unique. Like snowflakes, no two pieces of wood are the same. The wood grows in different locations, different climates, and even in different years, depending on when the wood was harvested. The grain and colour of the wood depend on the species, the weather, the wind, soil, bugs, and all kinds of factors.

The second reason they are unique is because I carve each one by hand. I use a template for drawing the letters but each time I cut a letter I make choices about which tool is required. I make that choice based on the shape of the letter (a curved letter requires a curved gouge). But I also choose a tool based on the type of wood and what the grain is doing where the letter is situated. Consequently, each plate is a mixture of unique wood and hundreds of individual decisions on my part.

My client has requested two plates, and when I carve the second one, they will be close to the same size and shape. But like snowflakes or two original paintings of the same subject, a close look will show all the unique cuts from my gouges, which are like the brush strokes of a painter.

If you order one of these, you will receive an original, that’s for certain!

Carving Memorials

Memorial

I had the privilege of being asked to carve two memorials by the parent of one of two women who passed away. It was an honour to be asked to be part of their stories.

The two women are connected because of the similarities of their situations, and the two families got connected through their shared sorrow. I will not retell the stories because you can read about them in the news. But the two women went missing around the same time and both were found months later, after they passed away.

Tulip memorial for Trina Hunt

Both sculptures are done in yellow cedar and black walnut. Trina Hunt liked tulips, and Shaelene Bell liked butterflies. I chose to design them as though they are in Gothic windows. Gothic cathedrals are known for their use of light through arched windows, and I wanted these memorials to hint at light, even during the dark experiences. Hopefully the two families are brought closer together through these sculptures, and the fact that their daughters can be remembered this way.

“In loving memory…”

“… of Shaelene Bell”

I carved Shaelene Bell’s butterfly in relief, and added some colour using my Razortip pyrography pen. The antennae are steel and epoxy. The lettering on both sculptures is hand carved. The letters around the rim of the butterfly were very challenging to cut especially in the end grain at the top of the window. Both sculptures are finished with several coats of oil and beeswax, and burnished to a soft glow. TV

Restoring an Antique

I enjoy woodcarving very very much and one reason why is because I get to solve problems for other people. The other day I was contacted by a gentleman who restores antique phonographs and gramophones, because he needed someone to carve decorative appliqués that had been lost on an early 20th century machine.

Acanthus leaves

There were 3 main carvings to replace, and some smaller details to add, such as egg and dart motif to some capitals. Two main carvings are of acanthus leaves curving around a frame, which would have held posters advertising the music this machine once played. These were quite straightforward and are very common decorations on many different kinds of furniture.

Acanthus leaves

The most challenging of the three carvings was the acanthus leaves and ribbon, also a fairly common decoration .

This was all carved in oak. The interesting part for me is these pieces were already applied to the phonograph cabinet and I simply needed to carve them. “Simply” might be an understatement, for this oak was some of the worst I have ever carved. It chipped off at very inopportune times, and with no warning. But in the end I made it work.

Trying Something New

I often approach carving very cautiously, but recently decided to be more bold. I think I’ve been cautious because I approach carving from a position of scarcity: “there is only one piece of wood like this in the whole world and I could ruin it! Ergo, go slow, Grant. Be careful.”

What does it mean to approach a carving more boldly? Take this carving of dogwood flowers.

Dogwood Flowers (safe version)

I intend that it will start low to the table on one end and rise in the middle before dropping back down at the other end, somewhat like my powerful looking biceps muscles (smirk!). So I started carefully by drawing the flowers and branch on the wood and cutting out the shape on the band saw. The first thing I started carving was the centers of the flowers, followed by the petals of each flower with the intent that I would gradually sculpt down from the surface, lowering each flower centre and each petal until I felt the flowers were at the right height. You can see in the photo that I started carving  all the flowers at the same height, that I separated the petals and had begun to lower them slightly. Not too much at a time because, hello scarcity! This is how I carved the last dogwood carving, and it was very safe. But it took me longer to carve than it takes Canada Revenue Agency to complete my tax refund, and I thought there must be a better way! Which is also how I think about paying taxes.

I have long been a fan and subscriber to Chris Pye’s carving training videos, and noticed that he confidently and aggressively removes waste wood before he starts carving details. So I thought I would give it a try. In less than an hour, I had the first flower and stem at the correct depth and roughly carved. All that is left to do is to smooth the petals, undercut the flower to throw a good shadow, and stamp the centre (stamen), which will take another half hour of time.

Dogwood Flowers (bold version)

In short, I’m happy with this new way of thinking and I am happy with the the process and the outcome. As I always say, “Go bold or go home!”

Ok, maybe this is the first time I’ve said that – it must be my bold coffee speaking. Bring on the boldness, in coffee and in carving!

Fireman Helmet Carving

This is a carving that has been in the works for over a year. Kirk has had a most interesting and storied career, or should I say several careers? One career was as a Fire Fighter in Greensboro, in the US. He retired from that profession several years ago and talked to me about his dream of having a carved fire helmet to be a memento of his years in the Fire Service. But it was after this most recent change in jobs that his wife approached me and said they were ready to start and gave me Kirk’s helmet for reference.

Initially, we thought I would carve a helmet “in the round,” or as the kids say: “3-D.” But then it occurred to me that he already has the helmet and does not need two of them. Plus, helmets are large! I was surprised at how large and how heavy the real thing is. Instead of a full 3-D carving, I suggested a carving in relief that could be hung on a wall as an art piece. It would take up less room, be just as dramatic, and be less prone to damage. They agreed and I started working on a design.

It started with joining two pieces of 2 inch thick slabs of yellow cedar that I got from my friend and fellow carver Ken Smorang.

Then I took about 100 photos of Kirk’s helmet from a variety of angles and with a number of different lighting angles. The hardest part was choosing the best one to work from, but I did finally choose.

The image of the helmet is ok but perhaps not large enough

Next, I laid out several options with paper on the slab of wood, and sending pictures back and forth with Kirk’s wife (she’s also a graphic designer). After landing on the preferred option, I started carving. I began with my typical approach of using a plunge router to establish the exact depths all over the slab, but as I started routing, I soon realized just how much dust and tiny wood chips were being created and thrown around the studio. I wasn’t happy with that. I have safety concerns about cedar dust and there was no efficient method of containing it with my Bosch router. So I switched to using my largest 2″ wide carving gouge.

Once the background was lowered down to the correct depth, it was time to start on the helmet itself.

Now and then, I like to stop and get out the dividers to check distances between the elements of the carving.

Relief carvings really come alive when you work on the little details. For example, the way the letters on the badge wrap around the curve and give the impression of depth. It is a small thing, but the stitching around the edges of the leather badge has to demonstrate perspective. This means that the farther away it is supposed to look, the smaller it gets. So, I made each stitch that wraps around the badge slightly smaller as it drops to the background.

And the best part was the voice mail from Kirk! Apparently I made his day 😃

If I can make your day with something special like this, contact me.

Passion and Patience

This post was inspired by two others: Nancy Hillier and Rick B, who posted a quote from Maya Angelou that grabbed me.

Seek patience and passion in equal amounts.
Patience alone will not build the temple.
Passion alone will destroy its walls.

– Maya Angelou

Below is an example of how I apply this to my carving. I’ve been “working” on this relief carving of a fireman’s helmet for several years. In fact, I started working on it before I even knew what it looked like because the person who commissioned the carving hadn’t provided me with a photo or a concept – just a “Hey Grant, one day I’d like you to carve my fireman helmet.”

Fireman Helmet Relief Carving In Progress

I was itching to get started, but I have started and ruined many a carving by, to use a track & field image, jumping the gun. I’ve learned to be patient, and in this case, rolling the helmet idea around and around in my head for several years before the client said, “Go!” It’s a good thing, too, because it turns out he was hesitating and I was hesitating because we both thought it meant carving a full-size, in-the-round, 3-D, helmet, and neither of us really wanted that. With due patience and thought, other ideas came to my mind and with them, a measure of relief (see what I did there?).

Once that was settled, the passion could take over!

Restoring Two Antique Carved Tables

A few months ago, a long term client asked me to restore two antique side-tables for him. These two tables were originally made for his father in the Congo sometime in 1930.

The tables had suffered from moving to three different continents, and the results of changes in humidity and some dodgy repairs attempts. The top of one was seriously warped and needed a lot of careful work with a hand plane. It was made of one solid piece of rosewood, and I couldn’t risk running it through a thickness planer for fear it would break in half.

This was followed by working both sides over with a card scraper.

Perhaps the most difficult part was fitting the feet of the legs with thick sheets of copper, drilled and screwed into place. The difficulty was because everything about these tables was hand made with no two pieces exactly the same. On top of that, the legs were badly warped and twisted. So each sheet of copper had to be individually fitted into the feet. This meant that I had to clamp the legs together, make individual cardboard templates for each foot, cut these out of the copper sheets, and then inset them into the feet. One I had the copper feet properly fitted, I clamped them into the legs and marked them for drilling. Many hours were spent at my drill press first drilling the correct holes and then drilling matching pilot holes for the screws in the legs.

At this point, no carving was done, but don’t worry, that’s still coming.

Next, the owner asked me to make the two tables match a little better. One table had nice arabesque cutouts in the legs. The other table had solid legs. So I made a template for the cutout, bought a new blade for my bandsaw and with a lump in my throat, I started cutting into the solid rosewood legs.

After a quick clean up to remove the saw marks, it was time to restore the carved elements. I pulled out my chip carving knife and went at the repetitive work of skim-cutting surfaces of the diamond facets on the legs. On the legs that I cut the arabesque shapes out, I used a scratch stock to etch a line around the shape, matching the other table legs.

Once this was done, I took the card scraper to the legs, touching the tops and legs with 400 grit sandpaper afterwards to soften the edges a little.

now to what type of finish to use! The client really didn’t want the carved diamonds to fill with lacquer or varnish thereby muting the crisp cuts. So I chose Tung Oil which would soak in and form a very thin layer, yet still have the soft sheen of the rest of the woodwork in his estate home. This was a labour intensive choice as it turns out. I ended up putting on 6 coats, which were hand rubbed with cotton cloths, and then, 24 hours later were buffed by hand before the next coat of oil was applied. After a week of drying and curing it was time to put the tables together.

The delivery of both tables ended with a surprise. The client has a book stand from the same place and era that he wanted restored in a similar fashion. I went home with another job!

Woodcarvers need to be creative and in some cases, we need to have technical woodworking skills too. I am thankful for men like my father and his good friend Ivor Monahan, and my shop teachers years ago for the good training and showing me that every problem has a solution. This project had more than its share of problems, but with time and resources, I was able to make it work out!

Mostly I am thankful for a client who trusts me with his antique heirlooms.

Grant McMillan