My latest carving is a miniature great blue heron that is six inches long which is miniscule compared to the forty-six inch length of a living great blue. The “water” the heron is wading through as it searches for its next meal is drying which is why the carving is perched on a Styrofoam plate in the posted picture. Humans are problem solvers and creating any carving requires solving a series of problems –unexpected problems with the grain in the wood being carved, the slip of a knife that takes off too much wood, a tail or beak that breaks after hours spent shaping it, dark paint accidentally dripped on a light area, and lots of others. Solving the problems is part of the pleasure of carving. This carving had more than its share of problems. I used two articles by Bob Lavender in Wildfowl Carving Magazine for my inspiration – one on carving and one on painting a miniature great blue heron. His painting instructions were for the uncommon white morph of the heron, but I wanted the colors of the more common bluish gray bird. After being too far into the painting process to retreat to the easier path of following his directions, I found it impossible to find adequate pictures of the underside of a great blue and had to guess at the correct color placement. The colors I used look good, but they’ve got a lot more artistic license than I prefer. Another problem was translating Lavender’s excellent advice on painting with an airbrush to my preferred method of using a hand-held brush. When I tried to use an airbrush on a previous carving I ended up with a half-ounce of black paint spilled on my tan pants. Luckily, they were old and now they’re perfect for camping. Mounting the heron and creating the habitat was tricky. Making the legs and feet went without a hitch, but I decided to attach the bird to the base before I added sand. This was to avoid having the holes for the posts that hold the legs being accidentally filled with the glue and sand mixture that the heron is walking upon. When I added the sand I couldn’t avoid covering the toes I had carefully fashioned and they’re invisible. That could happen to an actual bird foraging in actual sand, but I spent time on them and wanted them to show. I accidentally drilled all the way through the based when I created holes for the posts that hold the legs and the Enviro Tex Lite I used to simulate water dripped through the holes. Luckily, I planned ahead for possible drips and the plate caught the drips. Did I have problems? Yes. The ones named plus more, but solving them was part of the fun and it adds to the satisfaction of a carving of which I am proud. I have hopes that it will win a ribbon in a competition I’m entering next month. |
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ABOUT AUTHORJanice has been a bird carver since 2002. She carves basswood with knives and tupelo with power tools. Her favorite is which ever wood she has in her hands at the moment. Archives
April 2020
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