I am all kinds of ready to get this mama rolling with projects. I pull up my woodcarving books and start flipping through them. I get lost in time as I look at each book with all its possibilities. Nothing quite hits me so I decide to surf the web for a design and come across a page designed for beginners. Here I find a set of Christmas decorations that look easy enough.
I print out my design, cut my slab of wood, transfer the image, and settle myself down in my recliner. Carving knife in hand and thumb guard on I start my next project. At this point I am trying to get a feel for the gestures I am to be making with my blade. Testing the wood this time with the carving knife instead of the gouges that gave life to my coat of arms. Stroke after stroke I can see the smooth edges of the wood underneath the fresh cuts of my blade. Debris flicks through the air and lands here and there.
I find an obstacle as I work against the grain. Through all the books I have read I know I must make an effort to work with the grain and not against it. How do I over come those edges to make my curves? I take my carving knife and I pick at the grain. I lay it on the side table next to me that once was covered by remotes and magazines and now is littered with carving knives, gouges, paint, and wood. I try to slice the wood like a hospice saw being ever so gentle as I cut. Millimeter by millimeter I whittle against the grain and find my finished edges.
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