Welcome Thank you all for the response and the welcome back, you are amazing. Quigley is wiggling at the thought of each of you stopping in and resting a while in a familiar place. Good to have you gather again and listen to the banter that runs through this mind running full steam ahead. Better bundle up. We are getting snow here in a few hours, the wind has kicked up and the temperature is beginning to drop. Looks like we will get another taste of winter in the next few days. The home fires will be burning when you arrive and the coffee and maybe I had better break out the hot chocolate as well. Turn on some soft music while you read, just relax… Hugs to all. Yet Another Passion Here is another passion of mine, Woodcarving. Something I first got interested in 30 some odd years ago. I pursued it with a passion and actually made a living at it for a few years until I ran out of time attempting to keep up with the commissions. Dates started to pile up and I started to fall behind. So I had to stop the orders and clean up the mess I had created. I stopped carving for several years and have just recently started again after building a studio in the garage. Wood is an amazing media to work in and truly a gift from God . There is a carving in every piece of wood, all you need to do is find it and it will produce itself as you work away the excess material. I smile as I tell you this, sometimes you can make a small design change to accommodate for your failure to plan ahead. For me over the years it has been proven I have had some expensive fires because I could not get around the errors I had made. This piece is Walnut, a gorgeous wood to work with. It started out as two pieces laminated together and the grain change is barely visible but there if you look closely. Again we serve a God who provides some of the most amazing detail in His wood He has grown for our use. Praying Hands This carving was done back prior to my becoming a Christian but my interests had switched from nature and moved into the Christian workings. This piece is carved in Honduras Mahogany. A rare commodity today as they have all but stopped exporting it from there. Should you find it you will pay a fairly dear price for it. Over the years of doing commission work I reinvested all my earnings back into wood stock and I have a fair quantity of this wood left. Some as wide as 32 inches and 2 inches thick. All meant for the day I would have the time. All left over chips are saved and used for smoking fish and curing jerky at the time. That is the old miser in me. Family This piece is carved in another rare and hard to find wood. Butternut at one time was readily available but has been devastated by a pest over the years. Any stock which is available only comes in narrow widths. Lamination’s of several pieces creates a colour change that detracts from the finished product. This was one piece that showed a slight colour and grain change. I was commission by a family to do this. They had asked that I design something to represent the love of the family and love of the land. A wonderful family to get to know, hard working in the farming community where I once lived. Brother and Sister Commissioned by a brother and sister who had an extremely close bond. Again I was able to spend the day with them and listen to the many family stories they had to tell. This was a gift they were giving to their Mom and Dad on their 50th Wedding Anniversary. I have stayed in contact with them. Their parents have passed away and they tell me they now share the carving. They each have it for six months of the year. It is a blessing to know it has become a blessing to them. Last time we spoke they said once I was up and running again in a new studio they wanted me to duplicate the work so they would not have to share anymore. Cute thought, good thing I still have the original pattern. Note the sling shot in the back pocket. What is funny it was the sister who carried it all the time. Dahl Sheep Rams Head This was carved for a family as a memorial for their father who had been an avid hunter and outdoorsman. It was a Christmas gift and he passed away only a few months later. I managed to sit with him and talk about his many experiences in the wilderness. We had much in common. It was a sad day when he passed but he left a legacy of hunters and outdoors men in his family. This again is Honduras Mahogany one solid piece so as you can see no lamination’s do detract from the finished work. Love Wedding Gift Carving has become a pleasure again. It is welcome relief and a source of being creative in a media I so appreciate. As I work I pray the Father will bless those who are receiving and in turn it blesses me to have people from the past stay in touch after all these years. The same tree that God once so tenderly and carefully nurtured would become the same tree which would bring so much pain and sorrow for His Son to die on. It brings pain and suffering thinking of how He suffered. Lets all take this time of year to be every thankful of the call He has on our hearts. May the Father bless you this day, may you find His peace in a profound way and come to know His love which will transform you.... Many Blessings © Rolly A. Chabot
4 Comments
4/24/2017 10:15:06 am
Rolly,
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Rolly
4/24/2017 12:57:05 pm
Thank you Angelina... It is certainly a labour of love and an appreciation of wood. As mentioned it piece has its own way of speaking, all one has to do is allow it to speak...
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October 2018
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