Walesonline.co.uk August 15th reports on a collaboration between Caffeine Theatre in Chicago and Dylan Down The Ups, the new organisation launched in Swansea by Geoff and Anne Haden , who contacted each other through AmeriCymru."From Under Milk Wood to across the pond", by Karen Price at the Western Mail http://www.walesonline.co.uk/showbiz-and-lifestyle/2009/08/15/from-under-milk-wood-to-across-the-pond-91466-24444907/ "DYLAN THOMAS has always had a close relationship with the USA."After all, he spent much of his time in New York, the city where he died in 1953."Now a Chicago-based theatre company is planning to revive his legacy for American audiences by staging his work."And its also the chance for British authors, whose pieces have been inspired by Thomas, to have their work shown to American audiences."Caffeine Theatre has teamed up with Dylan Down The Ups, the new organisation launched in Swansea by Geoff and Anne Haden."The couple, who run 5 Cwm-donkin Drive the home in Uplands, Swansea, where Thomas was born and which is now a tourist attraction have launched the group to keep Thomas memory alive as a man of the people rather than just as a writer and poet."Caffeine Theatre got in touch through the Welsh social network Americymru and they are both now coming up with ideas for special events both in Wales and America."This is exactly the kind of thing we created this network for, that people could find each other and create things together - friendship, family ties, art, business, whatever - and we wish them every success.

David has finished carving! WOW, look at the spoon below!Reprinted with permission from David Western's blog , all material 2009, David Western --

With all the carving done and the eyes inlayed, its time to make our spoon nice and sexy! A needle file gets into all the tight spots and cleans up any rough areas without leaving behind a bunch of sanding grit. This is important if I discover I need to go back to carve some more as I won't have to worry about sanding residue dulling my knife blades. When I am absolutely certain that all the carving and filing is done, I break out the sandpaper to finish smooth areas such as the bowls. This is actually a difficult and time-consuming time in the whole spoon carving process as any scratches or bumps and lumps which get missed will show up like nobody's business when I apply the finishing oils. Thankfully, the Tour de France is raging on tv at the moment and I can take out my nervous energy doing a bit of sanding while the Schleck brothers hammer their opponents on the Alps.

And here he is!! The Left Coast Eisteddfod lovespoon is completed and is ready for the really exciting bit...the finishing finish!

I'm going to go with Deft brand clear Danish Oil as my oil finish and will give it 3 or 4 coats before following up with a nice application of beeswax polish. Here we go! I use a cheap little pig-hair brush to really ladle out the first coat of oil. I want good coverage and for the spoon to really soak it up, so I'm not afraid to really splash it on. This is the time when any sanding errors will leap to the forefront, so I've got my fingers crossed that I found everything before now!

WOW! Get a load of this! This is what 150-plus-year-old walnut looks like when the finish treatment is applied! This spoon is going to be a stunner! Man, what I wouldn't give to get my hands on a few more pieces of this magnificent timber. Sadly, this is almost the last of my supply so there won't be too many more spoons like this! So if you want to see how this spoon looks fully 'dressed' in its new coat of oil, stay tuned for the next blog! And please, if you enjoy quality craft, art, music and written word, please help support the Left Coast Eisteddfod with a donation today or buy your tickets to attend the events ! Any and every amount is gratefully received and you can be there to participate in the drawing to win this spoon!

Reprinted with permission from David Western's blog , all material 2009, David Western --

I'm getting really close to finishing the dragon. I've only got the eye left to inlay and some touch up work on the head and neck and the spoon will be ready for a final 'once over'. To do an abalone inlay, I glue the piece in place with a dab of white glue and let it set for a couple of hours.

When the abalone dot feels good and firm, I run around the edge of it with a very fine razor knife to scribe the line I will use as my grounding boundary. When the scribing is done, I use a small chisel to pop the dot off the wood.

Next up is the grounding. In this phase of things, I level the surface for my dot to sit on and try to get it so that with the dot in place, a little less than a 1/16th of an inch of abalone remains proud of the surface. I do a careful dry fitting to make sure everything is in order before I commit to glueing it down. Nothing says disaster like having your abalone sticking up!

Although it gets a bit messy when the excess glue seeps out, I don't worry about it as long as everything still fits properly! While the glue is wet, I wipe off the excess so that life is a bit easier later when the glue hardens up. Having big lumps of hardened glue on the wood surface is hard on the tools and my patience.

When the glue has set, the dot gets filed down and softly domed to more resemble an eye. As I mentioned in an earlier post, abalone and mother of pearl both make very, very noxious dust when they are sanded and filed. If you are inclined to try your own abalone inlay at home, please wear a good dust mask or respirator and try to work outside where the dust stands a better chance of vacating your personal space!!

The dragon's head is now pretty much done and all that remains is to give him a good final sanding and touch up any little areas I'm not completely satisfied with. If you've slogged it through these months of blogs, then you won't want to miss the next installment when I start applying finish to the spoon and this beautiful piece of 150 year old walnut flashes into spectacular life! Ok, so it's not a nail-biting final round of American Idol or a scintillating episode of Big Brother, but I guarantee it will be exciting in its own peculiar way!!

And please remember, time is a tickin' on the August 21 kick-off of the Left Coast Eisteddfod...the reason for this spoon's existance. Get yourself to the Left Coast Eisteddfod in Portland, Oregon and get tickets to win it at the event!

Reprinted with permission from David Western's blog , all material 2009, David Western --

This week I finally got back to the Eisteddfod dragon after being away for a few weeks and then being swamped by all the "wedding season' carving which I should have done before I left! It was a nice treat to reaquaint myself with my little walnut friend here and to work on getting him ready for the Left Coast Eisteddfod next month.

I've got some work to do on his body and want to define the scales a bit to match the front of the spoon. As with any part of the carving, the sensible thing to do is pencil out the lines and then do a shallow cut with a straight knife to ensure everything is where it should be. Because it is such a sensible thing to do, I used to ignore this phase and plunge straight into the carving. Now, with advancing years and a bit of the wisdom that years of mistake making brings, I always do my drawing before I start hacking.

Here I'm using a very short straight knife to clear away the bulk of the scale. As you'll note, I am cutting toward myself which is yet another not-very-sensible thing to do. I am, in my defence, restraining the cut considerably and only taking a very small shaving. This limits the sweep of the cut and the force I need to make it...the idea is to stop the knife from being able to reach the left hand....works most of the time!

Here's a picture showing the shaping of the scales. As I proceed up the length of the dragon's body, the repetition of the scale form will make the body look much more vibrant and lively. The trick at this point is not to make a mistake and whack a chunk off the high sections of the scale. I also want to remember to shape the roundness of the chest as I am working my way along.

Nothing works better for putting a very gentle curve into the scales than the bent knife. With the two sided blade, I can cut in two directions without moving the piece and can easily alter the radius of the curve. Curiously, the bent knife never gets the credit it deserves except among NW coastal artists who keenly understand its great value and abilities. I know I would be lost without mine!!

Well, there he is, almost done! Just some work to do on the head and another eye to inlay next week and we're almost there!

Speaking of almost there, so is the Left Coast Eisteddfod!! With only a month to go until the big days (2 of 'em!) things are getting exciting. If you haven't donated to the cause, please consider a donation today. Every dollar you donate equals one chance to win this lovespoon!!

From CraigInCT on twitter.com, the ultimate "bad ass" craft bike:

I am extremely sorry to announce that we weren't able to make it happen to get Here Be Dragons to Portland for this year's Left Coast Eisteddfod, due to a band member's family illness.We plan to do it for next year we're very sorry to not have them, they sound fantastic and they would have been a REALLY awesome launch for the inaugural year of the event. Thank you, guys, for being willing to come and show Portland your stuff and the stuff of Wales!We've booked two local bands in their place for Friday night - Western Aerial and the SlimJims , which makes Friday night local music night and Saturday night Wales night.

Beryl (Bee) Richards earned degrees in art, human resources and career guidance and retired from a career in human resources and education to pursue interests in writing and historical research. She is the author of Nantybar - A Vanished Village in the Afan Valley and is currently working on a novel on the South Sea Bubble. Bee was born in Port Talbot, on the South Welsh coast, and came back to live there after traveling extensively. She quotes a familiar saying, "You can take the girl out of Port Talbot, but not Port Talbot out of the girl."

Bee will be appearing at the Left Coast Eisteddfod to give a presentation on Prince Madoc.

AmeriCymru: You will be giving a talk on the Madoc Legend at this years' Left Coast eisteddfod. Care to tell us a little about that? How did you first become interested in the Madoc Legend?

Bee: Madoc is one of the fascinating stories, which is surrounded by circumstantial and anecdotal evidence. I think it ranks in mystery with stories such as the Turin Shroud, the Mari Celeste and it has a parallel in the Scottish legend of Summerled. Such mysteries and legends circulate all over the world. Always unproveable, always fascinating. Sometimes I wonder do we really want to solve these enigmatic tales. A lot of the fascination is taken out of such romanticism when proven a reality by science....

I am constantly fascinated by riddles, mysteries and enigmas such as Madoc. The further I delve into the story the deeper the mystery becomes. All sorts of phantoms are released. What were the political aspirations of the first voyage? How in the light of the Welsh Civil war was Madoc able to sail from Rhos with ships fully equipped for a journey to who knows where? Were there any Imperialist designs from the royal house of Gwynedd? My interest in the enigma started with a friend of mine a historian by the name of Bill Isaac lending me a book by Richard Deacon entitled (of course) Madoc and the Discovery of America I became hooked!

AmeriCymru: What do you think it will take to prove that the Welsh discovered America? What direction would you like to see further research take?

Bee: One of the possibilities would be to pursue the DNA trail. Another would be in finding definite proof that the saga ever took place. Any reported remains have mysteriously disappeared or have been burned. There is a huge body of anecdotal evidence and written evidence by many famous individuals but nothing left of the material remains of the said Welsh. It is unfortunate that academia dismisses the hypothesis. No one institution has to my knowledge ever conducted a multi disciplinary approach to the problem, either in Wales or in the US where I suspect more archaeological evidence could be found to support the Madoc claim.

AmeriCymru: Are there any books on the subject that you would particularly recommend?

Bee: There is quite a body of literature on the subject, one of my favourites is the book which a lady called Zella Armstrong wrote and published herself entitled Who Discovered America; the Amazing Story of Madoc. Richard Deacon Madoc and the discovery of America another highly recommended volume is entitled Madoc, the Making of a Myth, by Gwyn A Williams. One of the most entertaining fictional accounts encompasses three volumes written by a novelist called Pat Winter. William A. Traxel also wrote an account which takes the saga further called In the footsteps of the Welsh Indians. There are many more.

AmeriCymru: What inspired your interest in history? Would you agree with R.S. Thomas that it is not possible to ".... live in the present, at least not in Wales?"

Bee: Inheritence and curiosity also have a bearing on my interest. My father was one of the great instigators of my interest in history. Politically he was one of the best informed individuals I have met; discussions with him through my teens led me to want to find out the motivation behind his convictions. I started to read and found I had a great interest in how the past has influenced the present and how it will influence the future. It is my belief that we can only start to know our humanity by recognising the humanity and the struggles and triumphs of the past. Wales is a place full of crazy contradictions from the Mabinogion, to the religion of Rugby to the huge contribution we have made to the world of culture and industry. We are a multi cultural society and yet manage to draw in and to meld many communities into what is a vibrant modern country. I certainly think we live in a modern society, melded out of the people who have gone before us.

AmeriCymru: What inspired you to write "Nantybar...A Vanished Village in the Afan Valley"?

Bee: The wish to find out in more detail about the history of the little known Welsh valley of Afan was the motivation in writing Nantybar. The Rhondda Valleys are the usual topic of the Welsh Industrial Revolution, but what happened in the Upper Afan Valley during the 1800s was repeated all over the country when the rural population made a mass migration to industrial sites in all parts of the country. The North, Scotland, Wales. All these places played a huge part in the support of the British Empire with little or no recognition.

AmeriCymru: Any other message for the members and readers of AmeriCymru?

Bee: Congratulations to AmeriCymru in accomplishing what will be a unique occasion. I hope this year will be the first of many.

Reprinted with permission from David Western's blog , all material 2009, David Western --

I've just got back from a couple of weeks in Europe. My wife loves to go there for the art, the scenery, the markets, the food, the vino and the history. Me, I like to go there to crawl around under church pews, to crick my neck trying to spot carvings on timber framed houses, to be the guy laying on the floor taking pictures of an ornamented chair leg while everyone else is drooling over Rembrandts and to be the fellow who barely notices the magnificent stained glass of Chartres Cathedral because I'm mesmerized by the tiny roses carved into the stone columns. I confess, I absolutely love the wood and stone carving of the medieval and renaissance period! Whenever I start to think I am getting pretty good at what I do, a quick look at some carvings done by the artists of medieval Europe puts me well and truly back in my place and vividly illustrates the distance I have yet to travel!

But it isn't just the masterworks of the medieval church carver which inspire. The 'folk' carvings of the Barvarian and Tirolean Alps never fail to dazzle me with their exhuberance and virtuosity. Scarcely any wooden object was left unadorned and the result is an exciting legacy of chip carving which is still practiced by adherents around the globe today.

What I really like about wandering around Europe though, is that wood carving seems to show up everywhere. This picture was taken of a shop door in a Parisien fashion arcade. Although the picture doesn't do it justice, the work was exquisite. If there was some of this kind of stuff at the fashion stores here in Canada, my wife would have a fighting chance of getting me to go shopping with her once in a while!

I know that many carvers out there struggle with finding designs to inspire them and they especially find imagining their own patterns very difficult. I'm not too much different in that respect but I have found that by continually keeping my eye peeled for little gems like this, I have managed to vastly expand the repertoire of ideas I have to draw on during the design process. This simple little detail from a confessional is absolutely captivating and will definitely find its way into one of my designs some day soon. It may get altered a bit, but it is such an elegant form that I can't wait to find a way to carve it! To have this kind of inspiration available almost everywhere one looks really does make a trip to Europe more than worthwhile for a carver. And did I mention the beer? Ahhhh, the beer!

I'll conclude my little travelogue with this last picture from Chartres Cathedral (I was exaggerating for effect earlier, I did notice the stained glass!). This, for me, was the absolute highlight of my European trip! Although hard to see in this pic (as it is in real life) there is a tiny frog carved onto the stone column. His head has been broken off at some point, but his torso and limbs remain. Representing a staggering amount of extra work for the carver, this little frog was likely carved here for the sole purpose of supplying some whimsical beauty for the observant viewer. What a delight he must have been for eagle eyed children (and adults) over the years. And what a modest, quiet and yet powerful illustration of the beauty of carving!