Archive for October 2013

Call for Photos: Santa Gallery ’13

TBerrySantasign

San­ta Carv­ing sign by Tim Berry

 

The Annu­al San­ta Gallery will once again grace the pages of November/December issue of WOM. You are invit­ed to sub­mit pho­tos of favorite San­tas or oth­er sea­son­al item you’ve carved in the last 12 to 18 months.

Sub­mis­sions should be sent to womed­i­torATcom­castDOTnet; alter­nate­ly, you may send a link to a gallery such as Flickr that stores files at their orig­i­nal size.

Please include the fol­low­ing infor­ma­tion with your high qual­i­ty photos:

Title of Carving

Size (approx)

Mate­r­i­al

Fin­ish

About the design:

  • From your own design?
  • Carved in a class led by …
  • Inspired by a design by …
  • From a rough out by …
  • From a pat­tern by …
  • Etc …

 Sub­mis­sions due no lat­er than Novem­ber 15!

 

Ques­tions, queries, posers? Send email to womed­i­torATcom­castDOTnet

Artistry in Wood 2012 Gallery

Artistry In Wood 2012 Winner Gallery

Pho­tos by Marc Featherly

To vis­it the 2012 Win­ner Gallery click HERE then click on the Artistry in Wood link

01 Josh Guge Best of Show Family of Rubies

AIW 2012 Best of Show — “Fam­i­ly of Rubies” by Josh Guge

Artistry in Wood 2012

The ART in Artistry in Wood

By Don Mertz

The Artistry in Wood Show in Day­ton, Ohio con­tin­ues to be one of the pre­mier carv­ing and wood­work­ing shows in North Amer­i­ca.  With over two hun­dred exhibitors from twen­ty eight states and Cana­da par­tic­i­pat­ing, and 4,645 vis­i­tors attend­ing the two day show, yet it is not size alone that makes this event so dis­tinc­tive. All wood­carv­ing shows seek to pro­vide a set­ting for wood­carvers to show cre­ative work, par­tic­i­pate in com­pe­ti­tion and expe­ri­ence the com­radery of carv­ing enthu­si­asts.  But beyond that noble pur­pose, the greater inter­est is to pro­vide a for­mat for the encour­age­ment and advance­ment of wood­carv­ing and wood­work­ing as an art form and to grow that art in oth­er wood artists in what­ev­er lev­el of abil­i­ty each pos­sess­es.   All wood­carv­ing shows have their place and pur­pose.  All wood artists owe it to them­selves and to the pub­lic to sup­port, par­tic­i­pate and do any­thing pos­si­ble to con­tin­ue hav­ing wood­carv­ing shows.

What makes Artistry in Wood so unique is the many forms of art present in the expe­ri­ence of the show itself.  The art in the medi­um of wood is evi­dent in each and every carv­ing and wood­work­ing project.  That is obvi­ous­ly what any­one expects in a show that presents cre­ative works of art for show, for com­pe­ti­tion and for sale to col­lec­tors and gift givers.  But what makes Day­ton a pre­mier show is the less obvi­ous ART in the Artistry in Wood.

First is the Art of Gen­eros­i­ty.  Wood­carvers and wood­work­ers by the atti­tude that com­pels them to cre­ate beau­ty in the medi­um of wood are also very help­ful and giv­ing of encour­age­ment, how-to tips, wood, tools, pat­terns and projects to oth­ers who show any inter­est in the craft and art of shap­ing wood.  That is one of the guid­ing pur­pos­es of spon­sor­ing and work­ing so hard to orga­nize and put on shows and com­pe­ti­tion.  Lots of “labors of love” through the work before, dur­ing and after a show by an army of vol­un­teers is gen­er­ous­ly giv­en.  But more than that form of labor­ing in love is the greater Art of Gen­eros­i­ty engrained in Dayton’s Artistry in Wood.  In 1993 the AIW com­mit­tee was in search of a char­i­ty to enhance and expand the impact of why such a show exist­ed. They vis­it­ed a local Unit­ed Cere­bral Pal­sy agency (now Unit­ed Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Ser­vices) and were very impressed with the impact of their labors of love in help­ing so many chil­dren and adults with spe­cial needs.  The AIW com­mit­tee decid­ed to make Artistry in Wood the best woodcarving/woodworking show in Amer­i­ca and to have the biggest impact on the orga­ni­za­tion by donat­ing $5,000 each year to URSURS now serves four hun­dred chil­dren and adults with spe­cial needs each day. For twen­ty-five years AIW has giv­en $5,000 to char­i­ty each year and will con­tin­ue to so do for years to come.  This Art of Gen­eros­i­ty has enabled AIW to grow each year into one of the best shows of its type.  The more one gives, the more one receives in order to con­tin­ue to give. Thus the rea­son for the Silent Auc­tion, Show Raf­fle, Ban­quet Raf­fle and after expens­es rev­enue is to extend the spir­it of the show into year-round ser­vice through Unit­ed Reha­bil­i­ta­tion Ser­vices. That puts ART into Artistry in Wood.

Still with the spir­it of gen­eros­i­ty the Art of Cre­at­ing a Mem­o­ry is the next ART in Artistry in Wood.  The West­ern Ohio Wood­work­ers hosts a children’s hands-on work­shop with wood­work­ing projects they can build with the help of WOW mem­bers.   180 chil­dren cre­at­ed a mem­o­ry by putting togeth­er 280 wood­work­ing project kits.  Their mem­o­ries were as large as the smile on their face as they car­ried home their own “hand­made” project.  WOW also assem­bled 750 toys for local hos­pi­tal­ized chil­dren to go with pre­vi­ous­ly assem­bled toys in the Smile-A-Minute program.

Mem­o­ries were also cre­at­ed through the demon­stra­tors’ pre­sen­ta­tions on sub­jects of inter­est to show vis­i­tors.  The pre­sen­ters includ­ed Dave Stet­son, Wayne Bar­ton, Diane Sop­er, Jim Dupler, Tom Drum­mer, and Scott Phillips.  Wood Carv­ing Illus­trat­ed host­ed at their booth one hour demon­stra­tion work­shops on var­i­ous wood­carv­ing sub­jects with expert wood­carvers shar­ing their talent.

The ART of Com­pe­ti­tion is enhanced because AIW draws togeth­er carvers and wood­work­ers from across the nation who enters some of the best qual­i­ty carv­ings and wood­work­ing projects to be eval­u­at­ed by respect­ed and knowl­edge­able judges.  Each year there is a sense of awe and amaze­ment with the qual­i­ty, vari­ety and excel­lence of these cre­ative works of art in the medi­um of wood.  This year was no excep­tion as can be seen in the pho­tographs pre­sent­ed with this arti­cle.  Wood­carv­ing Com­pe­ti­tion con­sid­ered 331 entries while in Wood­work­ing there were 53 entries.  Besides rib­bons, 70 cash prizes totaled $5,125 were award­ed.   Judges in wood­carv­ing were Stu Mar­tin, Gary Den­zler and Wayne Bar­ton and wood­work­ing judges were Roger Horung, Jim McCann and Lar­ry Sanders.  Best of Show in Wood­carv­ing was Josh Guge, Sec­ond Best of Show, Josh Guge and Third Best of Show, Susan Dorsch.  Best of Show in Wood­work­ing was Bruce Burk­hold­er, Sec­ond Best of Show, Jay Kinsinger and Third Best of Show, Mark Waninger.

The ART of Serendip­i­ty becomes evi­dent in the unex­pect­ed dis­cov­er­ies of the AIW expe­ri­ence.  First time vis­i­tors and first time exhibitors are like chil­dren in a can­dy store, hav­ing any expec­ta­tions sur­passed by all the won­der­ful things dis­cov­ered down each row and at each table.  The vari­ety and qual­i­ty of carv­ings and wood­work­ing cre­ations are awe inspir­ing while at the same time spark­ing imag­i­na­tion and dreams of being able to cre­ate sim­i­lar cre­ations by one’s own adven­ture into the art.  Col­lec­tors and gift givers have plen­ty from which to choose as well as per­son­al­ly get­ting to know the artists. Exhibitors and vis­i­tors alike enjoy the impromp­tu con­ver­sa­tions that devel­op as well as the mutu­al help with ques­tions like “How did it you do this?”  or “How can I get start­ed in doing what your do?” There are thir­ty ven­dors offer­ing knives, tools, books, wood, rough outs and sup­plies for the art and craft of work­ing in wood.  Ven­dors not only have well stocked items but are eager to offer help­ful answers and sug­ges­tions to each patron’s needs.

The ART in Unex­pect­ed Places is many and var­ied.   Almost every hour of the show a free door prize of donat­ed carv­ings is offered to vis­i­tors.   The Silent Auc­tion of carv­ing and wood­worked projects on any sub­ject depict­ing a Win­ter Hol­i­day between Novem­ber and March was a bonus of sur­pris­es.   Two Raf­fles offered donat­ed items by sev­er­al artists in wood which also includ­ed a tree loaded down with carv­ing orna­ments.  Then there was the Orna­ment Carv­ing Con­test on Sat­ur­day after­noon in which the par­tic­i­pants were observed putting the fin­ish­es touch­es on each orna­ment. Judg­ing of the orna­ments result­ed with top three win­ners of rib­bons being Vic Hood, Wayne Shin­lever and Tim Jack­son.  All par­tic­i­pants were eli­gi­ble for the draw­ing of $35 cash prize, which went to Steve Fowler, Tim Jack­son and Bob Minton.  The Show’s Spe­cial Dis­play of Decoys showed exam­ples of the his­to­ry and devel­op­ment of Duck Decoys.  The Ban­quet Cel­e­bra­tion for par­tic­i­pat­ing exhibitors was a relax­ing respite from a busy first day. Fol­low­ing a deli­cious catered meal and delight­ful table con­ver­sa­tions the fun part began with pur­chas­ing “stretch of the arms” strips of raf­fle tick­ets as the main fund rais­er to bal­last the URS dona­tion.  High-end prizes were offered to sweet­en the pot of pos­si­bil­i­ty for each win­ner while each los­er still was a win­ner in hav­ing giv­en to a good cause.  The high­light of the ban­quet always comes with the sur­prise announce­ment of the annu­al Ron Ryan Award to the per­son who most exem­pli­fies the encour­age­ment and advance­ment of wood­carv­ing.  2012 recip­i­ent is Stu Mar­tin who has instruct­ed thou­sands in his sem­i­nars over the years as well as cre­at­ing a spe­cial style of art in his rough out blanks.  All ban­quet par­tic­i­pants received a donat­ed door prize at the con­clu­sion of the evening.

It has often been said, “Beau­ty is in the eye of the behold­er,” and it can also be said that “art is in the eye of the behold­er” of all kinds of art, the seen, the expect­ed, the unex­pect­ed and the serendip­i­tous.  Artistry in Wood is promis­es to be rich in all kinds of Art for vis­i­tors and exhibitors on Novem­ber 9 and 10, 2013.  Vis­it www.daytoncarvers.com to refresh the mem­o­ry of the last show or to be intro­duced to what to expect for the next show.