art in wood

CCBMM

2011-05-18T03:04:00.000-07:00

The catholic cross bearers motorcycle ministry are from the U.S.A. and are probably the first catholic m/m in the world,so if you are a practising catholic biker,wherever in the world you live,and youre looking for a catholic ministry to join,i recommend CCBMM.
Have a look at their website,you'll find it on the links section of this blog.
CCBMM are good catholic christians and i'm blessed to have them as my friends and brothers and sisters in christ.
jim chapman 18/5/2011

note:

2009-12-14T05:40:00.000-08:00

you may notice theres not much activity on this blog,i will create new posts when i feel i have something to say,the links provide plenty of information about some professional woodcarvers and their work,teaching dvds, books and tools etc...,it should be enough to get you started with some high quality carving.if you read how i got started,it was on a tight budget and love for the art/craft, and was built up slowly.nothing worthwhile happens overnight,advertising was and sometimes still is word of mouth,and if your work is good you'll be remembered for it.people will talk,and thats word of mouth!if you wish to contact me about any of my work,my e-mail address is jmalletandgouge@yahoo.co.uk

2009-09-09T03:44:00.000-07:00

This blog is to hopefully advise and encourage anyone intrested to have a go at woodcarving.
If you look to the top right youll see a link entitled gallery on flickr,click on it to see some of my work,there are only a few carvings up at the moment, more to follow. the other links are for woodcarving sites are:city and guilds of london art school, ian norbury's website,nora halls website,classic carving patterns and the gmc group,who have books and magazines on all types of art and craft including woodcarving.these sites are a great resource for amateur and professional alike.happy viewing. jim.

Wood Carving - How I got started

2008-09-12T06:15:00.000-07:00

Woodcarving is one of the oldest crafts in the world.for me,it has been a labour of love since 1992.
My first contact with carving was in 1988, in Cardiff, Wales. a neighbour of mine at the time gave me some chinese carving tools and a couple of peices of wood. i carved two heads like those on easter island. i did nothing with wood after that untill 1992 when i did a course in galway city, Ireland.

As i was learning on the course i kept practicing and researching in my own time. looking for reference books to buy,and buying tools. My finances were very limited so i bought what i could bit by bit.

Its amazing what can be done with nothing but a few gouges. about six months after the course ended, my former tutor took me on as a relief teacher,and gave me a lot of support,giving me comissions he did'nt have time to do. People started coming directly to me for commissions and I started to make a name for myself.

When that starts happening, you've got to keep going and things will develop naturally. The course was 25 hours long, spaced over ten weeks. Many hundreds did the course,but only a handful continue to carve on a fulltime basis. Since then i've carved about 1,000 peices or more with various levels of detail, size and form.

From signs and sculpture, celtic design, chip carving and hearldry. The avenues are endless. i would encourage everyone with an interest in woodcarving to look for a course. Many of my carvings are from patterns readily available such as the book of kells which has been reproduced time and again in many different media, jewellery ,postcards,stationry, etc...,unlike these,individually hand carved images are unique, even when the same image is carved over and over again no two peices are the same. woodcarving. Its a gift from god.