This Throwback Thursday doesn’t go quite so far back, we’re going to December 2021. I made a tapered French style rolling pin for my Mother-in-law and decorated it with painted daisies. I took some in process pictures, but because it was the holidays and I was in a whirlwind, I forgot to take final pictures. My MIL graciously sent me pictures of the rolling pin recently, so now I can share the project on the blog!
Here is a throwback to August of 2004, when I was getting ambitious with my wood carving. I had made a polymer clay model, then used that as a reference to carve the wood. I don’t remember which wood I used, but it looks like it might be walnut. That would be the time that I realized I was not only allergic to walnuts, but to walnut wood and oils as well (makes sense now, was quite devastating then). I like clear coats, and have steered away from wood stain for many years, so the dark surface of the wood is likely not stained. The darkened eye and frog skin markings were pyrography done with an old soldering iron.
Pinterest strikes again. I’ve been pinning linocuts and woodcuts because I like the results and I saw that there are slabs of rubber that can be carved to create flexible stamps. Color me intrigued. I bought a set, and I already have micro wood cutting tools, so I gave it a go.
So this was fun. My lessons learned include making sure the carving tools are all very sharp. My gouge was not and left micro tears at the edge of the lines which filled with ink and printed a fuzzy mess. Putting the paper on top of the inked stamp then using a roller to press the paper to the stamp worked much better than pressing a stamp down on the paper. The process definitely has a learning curve, but the rubber is relatively easy to carve and it opens up worlds of possibilities.
I wanted to make something special for my Dad’s 75th birthday. I had a piece of soapstone in my stash, and I know he likes small things to go in his shelves, so I pulled it out and stared at it for awhile, willing it to tell me what it wanted to be. It wasn’t talking. My eldest had the idea of doing a relief carving of a koi (koi are long lived). I liked the idea, but the stone was suited better for an unusual relief, more of an emerging. I set about removing the excess material to release the inner koi.
The idea in my head was of a fish coming out from under a ledge. I under cut the top, and rough cut the shape using the bandsaw and a small hand saw.
With the basic shape set, I went to work with my coarse riffler files. Oh what a hardship to sit outside in the sun filing away! More like a present to me. When I felt like the carving looked more fish than manatee, I set in with the fine riffler files.
When I was pleased with the curves, I then sanded the riffler marks out and set about carving in details with an awl and knives. I was hesitant about carving scales, but this time the stone told me quite clearly that it wanted scales. I moved inside for this, since it didn’t produce nearly as much dust as shaping. When the scales were carved in, and I was pleased with the depth of the definition of the gills and eyes, I did another light sanding with 400 grit sandpaper. Then to get some gloss, I applied three layers of microcrystalline wax. Wow, the shine! My youngest thought that there should also be a fisherman, so I made a small copper figure pulling on a bent pole to reel in the massive fish. I drilled two tiny holes on the top of the ledge, and there are two wire spikes on the feet of the fisherman that fit in the holes. I am pleased with the motion of the wire figure; he is working hard to land that fish!
Rather than super glue the fisherman in place, I think I will ship the piece separated. The soapstone is weighty, and the copper figure is delicate. I would hate for the tiny massive fish to squish our champion.
Critters and Craft 