There has been and still appears to be a problem with Blogger and uploading pictures. Until the problem is solved I won't be blogging much. I am in the process of looking for a new blog Hosting site. When i find one I will switch over and continue with blogging.

I have often been asked how I came by the name Old Bear Woodcarving. Some may believe it's because bear are favorite subject to carve, but far from it. Actually my wonderful wife of forty two years deserves the credit for that. One day I was working on her honey do list which was half as long as my leg. All the while I was slaving away for her I was also complaining that I had a carving in the works that I would never get to. After listening to me whine long enough she finally said "well then just go carve, you old bear". So that's how, many years and carvings ago the name Old Bear Woodcarving was born.

Remember the polar bear carving I had started way back when. Well here it is finished at last, and it's been a long time coming. I think this carvers block I was suffering from has also finally run its course and I can get back on track. Hope you enjoy.

 

Here's a simple little carving that was completely out of the blue. One of those where I just start carving with nothing special in mind. I've found in the past this helps me get rid of my "carvers block."  Just carve with nothing in mind and be happy with whatever you end up with. LOL, sometimes all I end up with is a pile of wood chips, but at least I'm carving.

 

Well once again it's been a while since my last post. Still not carving as much as I would like, but I am working my way out of the funk I'm in. Here is my latest carving. Hope you enjoy.

Mrs Claus and her rocker are made from one piece of wood, and she is not attached to the base so she can rock while she knits. She is available for purchase at : http://www.etsy.com/shop/OldBearWoodcarving                                        

Hello again, I have been suffering from a serious condition called carvers block. For the past three weeks nothing I have started to carve is finished or I make a mistake bad enough to scrap it. I've been in these funks before but never this long. To work my way out of it I started a clay model of a bear I want to carve. Let's see if this will get me back on track.

Here I've made the armature and started adding clay.

 

 Finished.

 

What I am hoping to do is just work out the basic design and not worry too much about any detail. I may add some eyes to the model, as that is one thing I am struggling with right now. Have never built a clay model before usually just carve it, but deperate times as they say. We'll see how this works out.

Been a while so here goes. The moose project is on hold due to another large knot found in the wood once I got to carving on it. Put it on the shelf to give me some time to think about either fixing it or starting over. I harvested the wood myself so no complaints' it was all free.

 Have been busy though, the Christmas ornaments are all sent out, people have started getting them and I have started another project. I did build myself a holder for my power carving bits. I looked for a premade one and of cousre couldn't find what I wanted so I just made one. I had made two others for my piants so just followed the same basic design.

It ain't pretty but it does the job and still gives me room for some extra bits. Cost $3.99 for the turn table and the rest is scrap MDF left over from a speaker box. About an hour to build and the finish is just several coats of thinned poly. You know what they say about necessity being the mother of invention. Not only that I'm cheap too, why buy if I can build it for little or nothing.