<div>Hello Richard,</div>
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<div>I have been lurking in this group for a few months, and your self-introduction gave me the courage to introduce myself as well. My name is Richard Luke. While I have been "Whittlin' " since I was a small child, it wasn't until about two months ago that I became actively involved in woodcarving. I am a Desert Storm Veteran ( I served as an Army Medic, working in the Landstuhl, Germany Emergency Department). I also have PTSD, and part of my therapy is attending a woodcarving class about once a week ( The VA in Salt Lake City has an EXCELLENT Recreational Therapy program!) . Our instructor, Tom Hollingswoth, has been Carving since he was a small child as well, but he is in his 60s! He has won First Place ribbons at the Utah State Fair for his woodcarving. I am sill learning, and when I have a finished piece to show, I'll post it to the list.</div>
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<div>I know that I appreciate all the information I get from this list and I also pass the information on to my fellow Veterans in the program.</div>
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<div>Thanks for puttin' up with my ramblings.</div>
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<div>Richard Luke<br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Nov 1, 2008 at 10:05 PM, Richard R. Boyd <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rboyd5@ec.rr.com">rboyd5@ec.rr.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Friends in Carving: Please support our List - visit the Carvers' Campanion Shop at <a href="http://cafepress.com/woodcarving" target="_blank">http://cafepress.com/woodcarving</a><br>
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<div>Hello Woodcarvers,</div>
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<div>Matt Kelley said I might introduce myself to you all.</div>
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<div>To introduce myself I'll start by telling you I'm really new to wood carving but I am totally engrossed with it.</div>
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<div>I'm a retired US Marine, I retired in 1970 so you know I've got some years behind me. After the Corps I've been a builder, and an Architect without portfolio. </div>
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<div>Last year my wife learned that our county's Senior Center had an experienced wood carver who volunteered time showing seniors how to carve. She suggested, as wives do, that I try my hand at wood carving. I had never considered wood carving as something I would be interested in but I went to meet the the gentleman anyway. In less than two hours he had me convinced I could do an acceptable job of making a block of wood look like a European Santa Clause. That was in November 2007. Now I have small caricatures, relief's, a few dozen love spoons, wood spirits and Santa pin scattered around the nation. Inexpensive Christmas presents that inspire friends and family to encourage me.</div>
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<div>I been reading every wood carving article I get my hands on. I've converted my small shop into a wood carving studio. I pursue other hobbies too but one might think me a compulsive obsessive when it comes to wood carving....</div>
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<div align="left">I've developed a web page showing our small Senior Carvers Group and included a link to my personal web page showing carvings I have completed. </div>
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<div align="left">I've entered two completions sofar, one won second place in our county fair. The other is an art show held by our local Community College art department. They haven't released the judges decisions yet.... Anticipation!</div>
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<div align="left">I Hope to learn.</div>
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<div align="left"><font face="Signature" size="6">Richard</font> </div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><font size="3"><strong>Woodcarver</strong></font></div>
<div style="FONT-FAMILY: Times New Roman"><strong><a href="http://home.rr.com/woodcarver" target="_blank">http://home.rr.com/woodcarver</a></strong></div></div></td></tr>
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<td valign="bottom" align="middle"></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>Woodcarver mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Woodcarver@carverscompanion.com">Woodcarver@carverscompanion.com</a><br>
<a href="http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/woodcarver" target="_blank">http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/woodcarver</a><br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.<br>