[Woodcarver] What have you been working on?-my parks dept class and students

[Linehan718 at aol.com]

In a message dated 8/22/2008 9:55:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
jdillett at thecarvingshop.net writes:

Hi Maura,
 
It sounds like you haven't slowed down much this summer.  

I like the fact that you're teaching a few times a week for  the park 
district. Two years, this has been a long term commitment for you. I  would be 
interested to know a little about how the students are doing. How  many students 
have stayed with you for all that time? How many show up  regularly and how many 
pop in about once a month? What type of things are they  learning besides 
sharpening?

Joe Dillett


Hi Joe, I have mixed feelings about the class I run.  I sometimes feel  like 
it stiffles my own creativity but I figure it at least keeps me  carving...and 
it does pay well..anyway a bit about the class. It is a  year-round class 
which only breaks when I go on my yearly carving  adventures or on my family 
vacations. It runs Mon and Friday morns from 9  till noon or later depending on 
who wants to hang out.  they are trying to  get me to add wed morns also...we'll 
see.  It is funded by a grant which  originally was meant to benefit seniors 
but we have opened it up to anyone over  18 now. This class cost seniors 
10$!!!! a year and everyone else $50!!!! a  year.  Thank Goodness my salary comes 
from the parks dept. I am not an  employee but technically, a consultant. 75% 
of the carvers are retired with  the rest being 45+. once in a blue moon we 
will get someone in their 20's  or 30's but their work/school schedules prevent 
them from any sort of regular  attendance. The space provided for it is a 
general purpose arts and craft room  which we sometimes share with painters.  The 
room is approx 25' x 75'   with almost floor to ceiling windows overlooking ny 
harbor and has normal metal  folding chairs and white plastic topped tables. 
It is heated and air  conditioned. We are not allowed to have any big power 
tools so I do the  cutting of wood at home on my bandsaw.  Besides hand tools and 
accessories,  the only equipment we have is a jool tool power sharpener, my 
homemade power  sharpener, a few woodburning units and some dremel rotary 
tools.  The man  who I took over from was an ambitious whittler but don't let that 
fool you,  he took on some decent sized projects with his knives and was quite 
prolific,  until he passed away.  I was granted a decent yearly budget and 
was able to  get in some  murphy knives, power-grip Japanese chisel sets, the 
jool tool,  a supply of carving woods, gloves, non-slip mats, carving sleds, 
clamps and  a whole slew of assorted items.  I could not believe the condition of 
their  knives when I first started and don't understand why they all didn't 
quit in  frustration.  
 
I have taken to calling myself their guide rather than instructor, because  
their talent levels, speed levels and desire to improve on what they are  doing 
 and the types of carving they wish to do and learn is all over  the place. 
So it is almost impossible to formulate any cohesive type of  lessons. I give 
formal lecture classes periodically on the history of  woodcarving, care of 
tools, techniques possible with different tools, finishing,  making a pattern, 
carving safety, sharpening basics and a more in-depth  sharpening class. Most 
listen, some don't. We have had  formal carving classes which included twig 
animal carving, a caricature  little woodspirit type thing, carving and 
woodburning feathers, and a nautical  relief carving in mahogany. again most 
participate, some don't care  to. Class projects are hard to do as they are reluctant to 
carve  anything but what they are used to.  I have gotten a few of them to  
purchase some quality v-tools and gouges but most of them are happy to carve  
with their knives and/or a few palm chisels. 
 
Now about the students, there are roughly 25 carvers affiliated with the  
class but to get 8-12 attending regularly is good. I can usually count on 8  or 
9. On a bad day, 3-6 is the norm. 75% have continued attending  for the 2 years 
I have been there.
 
    We have a few ambitious carvers such as Cyril,  carving roughly 10 years 
now, who originally came from Austria and does  chipcarving, acanthus and 
relief work, he is 80 but still going quite  strong(will likely outlive most of 
us) and is currently finishing up the  8th and final of a series of mahogany 
reliefs of the gates from his  hometown in Austria.  I plan to take pics of him 
and all 8 of these  carvings and submit it to chip chats in order to surprise 
him.  I feel it  is a great accomplishment and feel his perseverance should be 
celebrated.   He is one of my better carvers and I learn as much from him as 
he does me. we  both attend a regular Monday evening carving get together in a 
lutheran  church where larger acanthus and reliefs are the norm.
    Then there is artie, 65 who started out on spoons  and small whittlings 2 
yrs ago, moved on to chip carving and now has found his  passion in 
experimenting with different woods doing relief carvings. Given the  time, he will be a 
very good carver as he is interested in learning all I can  teach him.
    There is Bob, 55, carving 2 yrs who is  becoming a very talented 
caricature carver, who is also a very capable carving  painter.  He attends the Newr 
with me each year and is open to  learning any new tricks.  He progresses 
because he carves at home a  lot also.
    There is Bertha,70, carving 8 yrs who is quite  stubborn and takes any 
suggestion I make as a personal attack so I let her do  what she wants.  For 
example, she is right now attempting a relief carving  of a farmhouse landscape 
in 1"x9"x15" african mahogony, she not only  insists on carving this with a 
single knife but also insists that she will carve  the detail first as she tries 
to push the whole thing back into the wood.   She has been working on this for 
approx 3 months and is maybe 1/15th of the way  into it.  I don't know if it 
will ever be finished in her or my lifetime  but I leave her alone and try to 
encourage her best I can. I secretly hopes she  proves me wrong and finishes 
it "her way" but she only carves in class.
    There is Joy, 57, carving 6 yrs who I  have never seen actually complete 
a carving but she keeps right on starting new  ones, she claims to be 
interested in learning but just doesn't seem to stick  with anything long enough.  She 
also has a handful of other hobbies.
    There is bill, 65, carving 4 yrs who comes  once a week and whittles 
western caricatures, he is not open to suggestion and  while he finishes what he 
starts, they remain rather crudely carved and  painted.  But he is happy so I 
am happy for him.
    There is Joe, 75, carving probably 15 yrs who  carves interesting little 
in the round religious figures, works only with a  knife but produces charming 
little carvings.
    Jeanine, 50, carving 1 yr who alternates  carving and painting classes, 
who tries to be a serious student and is a  joy to have in the class. She likes 
to carve decorative country signs and wall  hangings and does add a nice 
feminine touch to what she does.
    Steve at 59, carving 6 years is our local  celebrity who was the first 
stem cell recipient in the states and has come back  from end-stage leukemia and 
has been in full remission for 11 years now, who  when not touring the 
country lobbying for stem cell research and attending  congressional hearings carves 
some very interesting and nicely done bowls and  spoons.  He is currently 
carving the #60 in a relief carving style as it is  an age he will be quite happy 
to celebrate.
    Mike, 60, carving approx 4 yrs is a retired  nyc detective who now 
travels the world, comes when he can, sits alone, doesn't  talk to anyone and carves 
spoons and little dogs, seems not to be interested in  any more than that.
    Roberto, 55, carving 1 yr who will eventually  be an excellent bird 
carver, who soaks up all I can teach him has started  missing sessions and I fear i 
will lose him to his increasingly busy life.
    George, 48, carving for over 10 yrs, is an  excellent folkart carver and 
painter but as his aging father is now requiring  more of his attention, I 
think we will lose him for a bit also.
    
The rest range from stick carvers to classical carvers to people for whom  
carving is just one of their many hobbies to a few young girls more interested  
in what I can teach them about woods and woodworking than carving to people 
that  show up for 1 or 2 classes and then never come back.  I spend the majority 
 of the classes working my way around the tables trying to focus in on what 
each  individual is working on and seeing if there is anything I can help them  
with.  With all the different carvings and personalities, things tend to  
stay interesting but there are those days when I just sit back and work on my  
own little projects hoping they can take something away with them.  I am  
certainly becoming capable of teaching many, many styles and subjects but worry  
that I will spread myself too thin and never make a name for myself as a  
classical carver which is what I'm most passionate about.  I will force  myself to 
teach a classical carving class at Newr next summer as there seemed to  be some 
excitement about it when I inquired of some of the carvers.   figured its time 
to wet my feet in that area.  It is all still an adventure  to me and I 
wonder where it will lead me.







Maura Carving in NYC
_www.carvinginnyc.com_ (http://www.carvinginnyc.com/) 
_http://mycarvingclub.com/mauramacaluso_ 
(http://mycarvingclub.com/mauramacaluso) 









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