Follow My Carving - Step 1

To celebrate Heartwood Art carvings being featured in the winter issues of Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw magazines, a new series is being added to the blog and site titled "Follow My Carving". The prototype of this piece will be shown in one of the magazines. Now you can follow along as it is finished, step-by-step. Below is the first installment.



This blank started as a 1/4 inch piece of birch measuring 11 x 11 inches. It was hand-selected for this project by my favorite old-world craftsman, Del Craft, who owns Del’s Woodcraft, located in Colorado. He supplies all the thin wood for Heartwood Art carvings.

It took over a month to draw the pattern. It must be as architecturally sound as it is aesthetically pleasing. As you know, wood comes from a round source. As long as it is in a solid plank, it remains fairly straight. But, when big sections are removed it tends to bow. The design must hold the structure of the wood or it could explode. This is also why the blank must be hand-selected. Del can read the grain and picks a piece that will aid the design.

After the pattern is cut on a scroll saw, the limbs must be shaped on both the front and back. Shaping on the backside simply involves removing the squared edges so that, when viewed from the front, the limb seems to be truly round. Shaping on the front and sides is much more involved. It gives the tree its underlying form. If done well, it also infers the effect of motion and deeper dimensionality by casting slight shadows.

At this stage, the piece has its basic form and is ready for detail carving.

The next installment is coming soon.

To see more carvings, please visit the Heartwood Art site.

Woodcarving Illustrated to feature Heartwood Art

Carvings from Heartwood Art will be feautred in two national woodcarving magazines from Fox Chapel Publishing, the industry leader in woodworking books. Because the tree and stained glass carvings combine multiple disciplines, the editor chose to feature them in the 2008 winter editions of both Woodcarving Illustrated and Scrollsaw Woodworking and Crafts.

For more information and to see the latest carvings, visit Heartwood Art.com

New 2008 series of carvings on the way

MaAnna is creating another round tree series for 2008.The first carving will be a mighty oak with exposed roots.There is an ornate circle around the treewhich is highlighted by a square framewith additional carvings.

The series will eventually include beautiful chip carvingaround the outer frame as well as well as wall mount treeswithout the stained glass backing. The first carving should be finished early this summer.

To be notified when new art becomes available, click here

Only one left in 2007 series

The latest carving, with the beautiful deep red and orange glass sold the day it was finished. It dramatically changes color between day and night. Pictures are on the site. There's only one tree left in the 2007 Knotty Tree series. It's a lovely maple wood with soft yellow glass behind.

Bigger carvings are planned for 2008 including a woman made out of flame. I'm currently working on drawings for another tree series that will have a circular design as well. Keep checking back on this blog or the site for updates.

Heartwood Art usually sells very quickly. To be among the first notified when new art becomes available, go to the site and sign up for the email list.