tributesinwood

Wood Carvings by Mark Sheridan

04 May 2014

George Proudfeather’s Pedestal Added

George now is secure on his pedestal.  The base is made from mahogany with a walnut stain and satin urethane coat.

I positioned the rectangular upright portion of the base just back from the centre of the horizontal portion as I just thought that it would look a bit more unique that way.  Now I’m looking at it and wondering what I might carve to lay on the base just in front of him…a feather, a tomahawk, etc.  I’ll have to give that some thought…leave a suggestion if you have something in mind.

Although I’ve never placed a nameplate/plaque on any of my carvings before, this one might lend itself to that.  I know that Lynne Doughty applies a nameplate to his carvings and that always looks extremely nice.  I’ll have to shop around and see what’s available.

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26 Apr 2014
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Painting Completed

The painting of George Proudfeather is completed and I’m just in the process of creating a nice base for him to sit upon.  I’m so happy with the way that the bead-work and bear claws turned out.

I ended up laying the bear claws on the bear fur collar and “connecting” them with what I imagine are glass beads that George and his clan received in a fur trade.  George seems to be pretty happy with the outcome of that trade.

I used a bit of epoxy on all of the beads to brighten them up to be glass-like.  They really stand out from the other earth tones that I used in the overall piece.

I should also mention the wrapped pony-tails.  I was originally going to do these as deerskin but on second thought felt that the jacket had enough of that material in the overall carving.  So I took an aggressive carbide tool bit and lightly buffed the wrap just enough to lift the wood and make it “furry.”  I dabbed some various browns and a bit of autumn orange to give it a hint of perhaps a fox fur.  I think that it turned our pretty reasonably.

A mahogany base ( from wood from an old soccer trophy of mine ) has been fashioned and is just in the staining/finishing stages.  I’ll get that completed early this week and then I’ll be on to my next project.

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21 Apr 2014

Some Bead-Work

I did a bit of painting on the bead-work yesterday and am pleased with how it’s looking so far.  My daughter, Emily, also gave me what looks to be a great book yesterday, called Orenda, that so far recounts some of the native Canadian history of the Hurons and Iroquois.  The 1600’s sounded like a tough life for our native people and am looking forward to reading more this week.  I think George Proudfeather is going to be a gentler version of the life that I’m reading about.

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19 Apr 2014

Painting George Proud Feather

George is starting to get some colour on his deerskin and bearskin outfit.  I haven’t completed the beadwork painting just yet as I wanted to “weather” the jacket with some dry-brushing but keep the beadwork colours bright.  We’ll see how this works out later.

I like the way that his head ended up tilted back and his chest puffed out a bit…Proud Feather for sure.

That’s the start to a mahogany base, as well.  I decided to keep it simple and I expect that I’ll stain it dark with a urethane coating.

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05 Apr 2014
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The Completed “Fergus”

Here is the completed Fergus in all of his glory looking over the waterfront and into a brisk breeze.  I really like the way that he turned out and especially like the dock and piers…I can almost hear the old wood dock creaking.

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I think that I mentioned earlier that a new acquaintance had asked for this rendition of “Fergus”.  My next step is to build a small shipping box that will ensure that Fergus arrives safely at his new home should Fergus’ Mom like the design.  I’ll get that done this weekend and will be able to get a sense of shipping charges.  Actually, there’s a Carving Show in Belleville next weekend and, if I drag my feet a bit, perhaps Fergus can compete for a ribbon there.

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I’ve loaded additional photos of Fergus on the Flickr site, which you can link to at the side-bar of this page.

Please leave a comment here as I always appreciate hearing from you.

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04 Apr 2014

Niagara Falls Carving Show 2014

Hobo and Ned attended the Niagara Falls Carving Show this past weekend and brought home a 1st Place in Caricatures.  My two bark carvings also did well picking up a 1st and 2nd in that category of carving.

In the next two photos, you can see that the caricatures category was popular at the show and had some creative entries.  In the second photo, the Indian bust was completed by Bill McDougall and was particularly well done, in my opinion.  Bill and I spent some time catching up on news and talking about their show coming up in the Erie, New York area this summer.

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The show itself was held at a new venue for the Niagara Carving Club:  Heartland Forest,  which was a beautiful facility and well attended throughout the weekend.  In fact, on Saturday, with the large number of people attending  it was somewhat difficult to get closer to the tables and booths to take in the many carvings.

My Mom, also here in the photo, attended the show with me and a number of relatives from the Niagara region also dropped by to see how Hobo and Ned made out.  It was a nice weekend.

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23 Mar 2014
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Painting Underway

Fergus received some colour this weekend as did the two piers holding up his observation dock.

The painting is done with acrylic paints.  I put on several washes, or light coats of colour so that Fergus’ coat didn’t look too uniform with hard lines where the colouring would have stopped and started.

I also like the way that the piers turned out.  Again, several acrylic washes followed by some dry-brush highlighting.  I hope that you can see the water line on the piers…I thought that would be a nice touch.

All of the acrylics get a coat of urethane to seal and deepen the colours.

I’m enjoying this carving and will be sad when it’s finished.

 

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14 Mar 2014
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Next Stop…Painting

Well, I think that the carving portion of Fergus looking out from the dock is wrapped up.  I had originally intended to add a bit of a rope coil to the dock, but I’m liking the way he looks without the extra accessory as it keeps the focus on the dog carving.

The base is oak and will be stained and get a few coats of urethane.  I carved the dock so that it is perched up on the piers and creates a space between the dock and the oak base.  I also cut and shaped it in an irregular pattern around the piers…I like the way that it turned out.

The tail is made from copper wire, twisted together and soldered and finally coated with epoxy. Making something like a tail out of wood is just asking for trouble…the wire and epoxy combination will have it last forever.

Take a look at the completed version and pass along your thoughts.  There’s still some room for modifications before the painting begins.  There are a few more pictures of Fergus on the Flickr Site that you can get to through the link at the side of this page

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By the way, Grandma has enjoyed knitting alongside of Fergus’ progress…but, not as much as she enjoys getting her photo taken!

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08 Mar 2014
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Fergus Makes More Progress

I was able to make a bit of progress on the little Basset Hound during the evenings.

My Mother is actually spending some time with us right now, and as she’s hooked on “Coronation Street” and knitting, I’ve been carving away as we sit together.  I can’t say that it’s improving my carving ability at all, but I am learning a bit more about all of the characters on Coronation Street.   And I’m enjoying my Mom’s company.

“Fergus” is starting to get a bit more detailed in his hound looks and I’ll make some more progress on him this weekend.

I’ve been quite surprised on the number of visits to my site just based on people’s interest in Basset Hounds.  I didn’t realize that there were so many hound lovers…but, I can understand why.

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01 Mar 2014

…and Fergus gets a body!

Little Fergus acquired a body these past evenings and I think that he’s taking shape nicely.  Those ears are billowing from the breeze off of the water and you can already get a sense of his eyes squinting against the wind.

This week I’ll start detailing in the face and feet which will start to bring him to life.

I also have a nice piece of oak that will be cut in an irregular pattern that the pier and posts will be mounted on eventually.

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