Blogs

Americymru member David Western's lovespoons blog has a guest blogger this week, a reader was kind enough to contribute his own pictures and carving experience as inspired by David:Bob Tinsley is a reader of this blog who was inspired to try his own lovespoon and has graciously allowed us to post pictures of his work, below, and to be our guest blogger:

HOW I GOT HOOKED ON LOVESPOONS

Hi, I'm Bob Tinsley, and I'm honored to be David's guest blogger. I'm from Colorado Springs, CO, and I've been carving off and on, mostly off, for close to 40 years. However if you put all my carving time together in one string, it would probably amount to about two years of experience.

During the last four months I've gotten serious about carving, doing some carving every day, mostly small figures in the flat-plane style and a lot of Santa Claus Christmas ornaments.

I got into selling my Santas with a push from my wife. After I had about 10 pieces finished and painted (8 Santa ornaments of various types, one Santa Bear full figure about 6' tall and an Old World Santa I called "Watching the Weather" because he was looking up), my wife said, "What are you going to do with these? They're starting to clutter the place up." My wife is big on reducing clutter.

My daughter, on one of her jaunts through one of the more touristy parts of town, saw a store called "Handmade Santas & More". So I figured, what the heck. I wrapped the pieces in brown paper, put them in a box and headed for "Handmade Santas & More". The first time I went there, the owner was out. The lady at the counter said to come back tomorrow. I went there the next day, a different lady was there, but she wasn't the owner either. Third time's the charm. The next time I went there the owner was in. She looked at my work and bought all of them on the spot. This was about mid-November. By mid-December she had sold all of them and wanted me to do a commission for a gift to a man who played Santa for a charitable organization, which I did over the next weekend. She wanted a fat, jolly Santa, so I did a fat, jolly, dancing Santa.

She liked that one as well and put in an order for next year. She said just start bringing them in around the end of March and keep them coming.

I first ran across David in the pages of Woodcarving Illustrated (WCI). I liked his enthusiasm, and checked out his website. I was floored by the intricacy and delicacy of his art. I wanted to do that, so I copied the pattern in WCI, bought a couple of 1 x 3 x 12 poplar boards, ordered his book from Amazon, Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons , and got started.

I received David's book when I was about halfway through carving my first spoon. It was like getting an early Christmas present! The book is laid out in a supremely logical manner. Without asking David about this, I can be pretty sure that this book wasn't intended to be just about how to carve a lovespoon (though that information is there). David apparently wanted a book that would introduce new people to the art and romance of lovespoon carving. In this he succeeded. Beginning with the history and lore illustrated by examples of lovespoons done by him and several other artists, the book covers the materials and tools, step-by-step instructions for three patterns, then finally patterns and something that is sorely needed in all carving books but seldom included: a chapter on doing your own designs. This, in my view, elevates Fine Art of Carving Lovespoons above 99% of the carving books on the market. And I have to say that the photography is outstanding.

My tools consist of two Pinewood Forge knives, a small sloyd and a hook knife, a coping saw, a small Japanese hand saw and a battery-powered drill. I roughed out the profile with the Japanese saw and finished it with the sloyd. Surprisingly it didn't take nearly as long as I thought. Poplar is pretty easy to carve with a SHARP knife. I emphasize the word "sharp" because, even though I can put a shaving-sharp edge on a pocket knife, until I got my first Pinewood Forge knife, I didn't realize that pocketknife sharp and carving knife sharp are two different things.

I drilled holes in the pierced areas, not just one as David shows, but as many as I could fit in. I was going to have to do the piercings by hand, so I wanted to remove as much wood as I could with the drill. I started to clean out the piercings with the knife, but realized that it would be easier if the handle weren't so thick.

I took out my handy-dandy two-sided Japanese hand saw and ripped a half-inch off the thickness of the handle. Once I had done that, I could start rounding off the bottom of the spoon's bowl. I decided to do that before I tackled the piercings again, because it looked, and was, easier.

Once that was done, I started back on the piercings. The larger ones I did only with my knife. Some of the smaller ones I did with the coping saw, but discovered that clamping and unclamping that blade after taking only five or six strokes was a major pain. So I continued with the knife.

I found that getting a clean corner where two curves came together, such as at the bottom of the heart cut-out, was not easy. Cutting down into the corner was almost always against the grain, so I had to develop a technique to get the point of my sloyd into the corner and cut up out of it (with the grain) a little at a time until I had cut all the way from the front of the handle to the back. It took a while to get the joint as clean as I wanted it.

Once I had the cut-outs finished, but before starting the rounding, I used the hook knife to hollow out the bowl. I thought that the ridge going down into the bowl from the top was going to be difficult, but it wasn't. I also didn't have much trouble with the grain at the bottom of the bowl. I don't know whether this was because of the wood or the sharpness of my hook knife. I suspect it was the wood.

I began the rounding process on the handle and quickly discovered where the grain changed direction. A very light touch with a very sharp knife was the key to making these areas smooth.

I like tool marks on my carvings, so I didn't sand at all. Any place I thought was too rough, I smoothed out with numerous shallow cuts with my knife. I did use a cabinet scraper on the inside of the bowl.

I finished the spoon with a hot application of neutral shoe polish applied with a toothbrush to get in all the nooks and crannies. I wiped off the excess with a rag, then buffed with a soft brush.

I enjoyed the process as well as the result. It's really not as hard as it looks. I've already started my second spoon, so I guess you could say I'm hooked!

Thanks, David, for the opportunity to do this.

From the Welsh Calendar

Announcing a new competition group on Americymru: The Left Coast Eisteddfod Tom Jones Impersonators .Our "virtual eisteddfod" is meant to be as fun as it is serious and so:Contestants will create videos and post them on an outside service or location, such as youtube.com, then post a discussion to this group and embed or hotlink the video in it. Americymru members can do this directly themselves; non-members email the url for your video here and we'll be only too deliriously happy to post it for you. Title the discussion with your name or email address so we'll know whose is whose!1. Videos must be hosted on another site and embedded or linked here. (see above)2. Videos must contain a performance of at least two verses (which can include a chorus) of any Tom Jones song and must be video of a living creature (if you have a singing dog or cat, for instance, yee-HA! humans, too, no species discrimination), not animation. Accuracy and/or sobriety are of no importance whatsoever. Karaoke is totally acceptable.3. Videos must be at LEAST PG-rated, suitable for all viewers, and may not contain any statement perjorative of race, religion, gender or national origin.This contest will run until 22 August 2009. As imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, all entrants are winners in their own right, just for entering, however, a first-place Tom Jones will be chosen by a secret panel of judges and will be named the "Official Tom Jones [NOT ACTUAL]" of our Virtual Eisteddfod and awarded the grand prize of $100.00 US currency, as well as the accolades of fame.If you have a little Tom Jones in you, please share!

Wales Online has an article today from Robin Turner of the Western Mail on a fascinating study on the origins of Christmas carols. From the article:"Dr Ian Bradley, a theologian at the University of St Andrews in Scotland claims the popular tune comes from Nos Galan (New Years Eve) which was played when groups of merrymakers danced around a harpist."The tune has been linked with Nantgarw it is also known as the Nantgarw Flower Dance and with North Wales."Dr Bradley said: 'Originally carols were dances and not songs"'The accompanying tune would have been used as a setting for any verses of appropriate metre.'"It is thought Deck the Halls was exported to North America by Welsh miners who emigrated to the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina the lyrics of the modern version are of American origin."Dr Bradley, who undertook the research for his Book of Carols, said: 'The tune was discovered in a musical manuscript by Welsh harpist John Parry Ddall who died in 1782. The tune however is almost certainly dated from the 16th century.'"The composition was published in the 1784 and 1794 editions of the harpist Edward Jones Musical and Poetical Relics of the Welsh Bards."Poet John Ceiriog Hughes wrote the first published lyrics for the piece in Welsh, calling it Nos Galan."Dr Bradley said: 'Like decorating trees, some carols have more to do with paganism than Christianity."'Deck The Halls was originally a Welsh dance carol sung on New Years Eve and belongs to a very distinctive Welsh tradition where people would dance in a ring around a harpist."'It talks about:See the blazing yule before us, strike the harp and join the chorus.'In some sense, carols have their origin in pagan religions because they come out of dance it is the Greek chorus, the circling dance, accompanied by singing and associated with fertility rites.'So its very much pagan, and that of course is precisely the reason why the Church was so uneasy about singing carols for so long.'" More here .

Today we are pleased to announce the details of yet another competition category in the Left Coast ( Online ) Eisteddfod! Details of the Poetry Competition can be found below. All submissions should be made in/ or linked from a separate group discussion in the Left Coast Eisteddfod 2009 Poetry Competition Group ( see details below ) .

THE LEFT COAST (ONLINE) EISTEDDFOD COMPETITIONS

Read all about our Short Story competition HERE. Win $100!

Read all about our Poetry competition HERE. Win $100!

Read all about our Pirate Lookalike competition HERE. Win $50!

In the next day or so we will be announcing details of our photographic competition. Others to follow. Keep checking back for further details. POETRY COMPETITION RULES FOR SUBMISSION

You may submit your entry in either Welsh or English. The two language categories will be judged separately and there will be a prize for each. Accompanying graphics are not permitted. There is a US100 dollars (approximately 50GBP ) prize for the winners in both categories. The final submission date is July 31st 2009 and the winners will be announced at the Eisteddfod ( August 2009 ). The judges have yet to be selected and a further announcement will be made soon. The judges decisions will, of course, be final. The winners will also be entitled to free admission to some Eisteddfod events. Runners-up prizes will be announced later.

All poetic styles and conventions are welcome ( limericks, however, will not be considered for a prize ) There is no upper or lower word limit. Entries need not reference Wales in any way , shape or form. You may submit up to three entries and work which has appeared elsewhere is acceptable provided you have not surrendered your copyright.

The winner and his/her work will also be featured on this site on what we hope will be a heavily trafficked page.

How To Submit Your Poem

Members

1. Simply join this Group and post your poem (and any links) as a separate discussion in the group forum ( see "Lorem Ipsum" example below). If you wish to include a link to your website or blog please do so but remember you must link back to us.

2. Post your poem your website or blog and post a link to the relevant url as a separate discussion in the group forum ( see "Lorem Ipsum" example below).. Once again you will need to link back to us.

Non Members

1. Post your submission on your blog and email us with the url ( americymru@gmail.com ). We will include it on the Group page. We would appreciate a link to this page or to the blog home page.

2. Email your submission to us and we will post it on the group page and credit you as author. ( in this case mutual linking is an option but not required )

The Fine Print

1. There is no entry or submission fee for this competition. The requirement to backlink if you are posting on your own blog and linking here ( or submitting a link to your blog on this page ) is obligatory and designed to be mutually beneficial.

2. Any materials submitted in this group will remain the sole property of the author. We guarantee not to display any story or any portion thereof on other pages or sites without the express permission of the author. Likewise materials submitted here or linked here can be removed or unlinked at any time by the author or at his/her request.

David Western is blogging the creation of a lovespoon and I'm reproducing his blog posts here as I think they are absolutely fantastic and it's incredible to watch the progress of his creation and hear what he says about it:From http://davidwestern.blogspot.com Details, details -- and tools Now that the spoon bowls are nicely shaped, I am going to move on to the vines. These need to work over and under each other, but don't need the formality and regularity of Celtic knotwork. The idea is that they appear organic and natural, so I will round them over much more than a Celtic knot and try to get a more 'random' feel to their movement up the spoon handle. To achieve this look, I begin by gently ramping down the wood on either side of an 'over', thus creating the 'under'. I don't take too much off initially; I just take enough so that I can see the over under pattern clearly. By taking a shallow cut, I can rectify mistakes in the 'over/undering' or can change the pattern if I prefer a different order. If I commit to a deep cut and make an error, I can easily find myself in hot water. I use a simple straight knife for this process. The straight knives I use tend to have very short and pointy blades. These give me access to tight areas and keep me from getting carried away and cutting too much material at a pass.

I am a great believer in taking multiple shallow cuts rather than getting all excited and pulling off great heaving strips with big deep passes. Its easier on the hands, the spoon and the state of my mental health to take my time and not push things. When the over and unders are completed, I round over the edges quite heavily with the knife and with some small files. With the rounding over looking good, I finish the vines with some cloth backed abrasive paper which I tear into thin 6 inch strips and draw back and forth over the edges for a final rounding.

In response to questions I have received about the knives I use, I have included this slightly blurry shot of my straight knife collection. These knives are the ones I use for all my spoon carving. They are all inexpensive tools but they are the workhorses of my art. As long as the steel is of good quality and will hold a sharp edge, any one of these little knives is capable of helping me to carve a beautiful spoon. Nothing fancier or more technical is necessary!

I began my spoon carving career with the chip carving knife at the bottom of the photo. This economical knife will do everything a beginning carver requires and it won't break the bank when you visit the tool dealer!

The pointy Flex Cut brand knife above it was my second knife and has an ergonomically designed handle which makes long carving sessions a much more comfortable proposition. The skew bladed Japanese knife second from top is one that I use for getting into tight corners and for shaping edges. Its a lovely knife, but its skew shape has taken some getting used to and it might not be a good knife for a beginner.

But it is the top knife which currently has my heart! A Flex Cut brand knife endearingly known as a 'pelican', it is an absolutely sweet little knife. With a tiny blade and comfy handle, pelican and I spend many hours together and I would recommend this style of knife above all others for serious lovespoon carving.

THE SEVENTH QUARRY Swansea Poetry magazine

THE SEVENTH QUARRY Swansea Poetry Magazine aims to publish quality poems from around the world. Poets from the U.K., America, Russia, Japan, China, Argentina, Canada, Israel, South Africa, Greece, France, Sicily, Catalonia, Spain, Czech Republic, Serbia, and Romania have already appeared in its pages. New Yorks Vince Clemente, as the magazines Consultant Editor: America, ensures a steady stream of American poets.

Each issue features a Poet Profile, a batch of pages given over to a chosen poet. The policy is to try to alternate between a British poet and a non-British poet. There is also a Books and Magazines page, which provides details and brief comments on received publications.

The magazine has recently become a cooperating partner with Cross-Cultural Communications Publishers, New York. The partnership has already contributed to the magazine being displayed at several prestigious literary events in America and the publication in QUARRY of work by the late, Pulitzer prize-winner Stanley Kunitz.

The magazine has also been contracted to The Poetry Librarys (Royal Festival Hall, London) prestigious digitisation project, which will ensure copies of the magazine are featured on its very popular website: regarded by many as the best source for poetry in the U.K. QUARRY was featured in THE GUARDIAN, one of Britains leading daily newspapers, in April 2006. It was awarded SECOND BEST SMALL PRESS MAGAZINE IN THE U.K. 2006 by PURPLE PATCH (U.K.).
The editor also organises THE SEVENTH QUARRY PRESENTS poetry evenings. The first, at the Dylan Thomas Centre in Swansea, featured a visit by American poet Stanley H. Barkan.

The magazine is now 64 pages and appears twice a year, in January and July. It costs 3.50 per issue or 7 for a years subscription (two copies). $10 and $20 for USA subscribers. Further information at www.peterthabitjones.com

Editor: Peter Thabit Jones info@peterthabitjones.com
Consultant Editor, America: Vince Clemente

DAN-Y-BRYN, 74 CWM LEVEL ROAD, BRYNHYFRYD, SWANSEA SA5 9DY,
WALES, GREAT BRITAIN ISSN 1745-2236

Now look here!As the liver bashing season is well and truly upon us the Memsahib and I should like to remind the tenants of Her Majesty's Colony America that I fully intend to start repossession of the place in the New Year.I am not a greedy man and as such will reclaim the Commonwealth in increments; the New England and Virginia colonies will be the first to cede their sovereignty so rashly bestowed on them by General ( Stinky ) Cornwallis. I never had much opinion of Stinky other than as a third class rugger player so why anyone would entrust him with securing Blighty's property in the New World is beyond me. Stuff and nonsense! Gammon and spinach I say!.My plan will be of the subtlest order. It will incorporate stealth, an iron nerve, bribery on a vast scale and the inescapable truth that the colonials are always looking to their betters in England for leadership.I intend to smuggle tens of dozens of the Whistleton - Thynne Light Horse Militia into Buffalo via the Maid of the Mist ferry service at Niagara Falls; these will be highly trained operatives with an intricate knowledge of Americana. Each will have access to some $2 billion dollars US. Their mission will be simple. To visit every Senator and Congressman in the Colonies and make funds available to them for anything their heart's desire;I have it on the highest authority that waving cash around in American political circles can achieve anything.Blackmail will then ensue and I'll control every last man jack of the blighters.I haven't crossed the I's and dotted the T's yet but I feel sure the National United Kingdom of America (NUKAM ) will be in place by July 4th 2009 - a day which will be designated ' Reindependence Day '.But that's in the New Year.Until then may I be the first to extend the Season's Greetings to my Colonial chums. Oh by the way. When I take command of Her Majesty's Colonies once again I will make it a stipulation that extreme deference be displayed to The Memsahib and myself. We shall be referred to as Governer and Mrs Governor General of NUKAM.Toodle Pip

Hi Pawb!I just wanted to let you know about a new website which is being launched today.www.themalpopeshow.tv is my own internet TV channel.Episode One features performances from Go West, Martyn Joseph and Beverley Craven as well as interviews with Sian Lloyd in Cardiff and Downtown Julie Brown in New YorkFor a limited period we have also included a Christmas Special featuring Dave Edmunds, Bonnie Tyler, Howard Jones and Neil Kinnock.A new episode will be added every month.Kind RegardsMal Popewww.cappuccinogirls.com