---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- January 2006 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is an opt-in newsletter and you should only be receiving it because you requested it from the website, or were sent it by a friend. Subscribe or Unsubscribe easily on the home page here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/ or using the link at the end of the newsletter. ****Back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html including zipfiles for 2001, 2002 & 2003, 2004 & 2005 newsletters ========================================================== Hello Everyone! Many, many thanks to everyone who has forwarded this email to friends and family. Please keep passing it on and getting them to add themselves to the distribution list. CONTENTS: Some new additions to the website: 1. 'Selecting & Sharpening your Vtool' FREE! 2. New Website 'Inspirations' 3. New 'Green Man' Gallery Contribution 4. New 'Other Carvers' Gallery Contribution Website Bookmarks at the end. Woodcarving Tuition Slipstones Woodcarving Manuals ________________________________________________ 1. Selecting & Sharpening your Vtool - NOW FREE! ________________________________________________ A Quick Historical Note: 'Selecting & Sharpening Your V Tool' started life as 'The Accomplished Vtool 1', which I tried to sell from my website as a means of covering some of the costs of the website/writing etc. 'The Accomplished Vtool 1' nailed down the dreaded V tool step by step: a well-proved, step-by-step guide to selecting and sharpening. A companion volume 'The Accomplished Vtool 2' would have dealt with the skills and techniques of using the tool to the best advantage. Although a small percentage of you supported this project, the majority of downloaders were not prepared to pay for the information, for whatever reason - one of which will be the idea that web information should be free. (And in regard to the last point, consider that the ebook has 70 photographs & drawings, 17,000 words and 1.9mb of focussed professional advice you can see how much work there was in it... Free?) I can honestly say this ebook is one of my best pieces of writing. It works so well. I intended a whole series of workshop manuals but obviously this is not to be - and certainly not the companion volume. Ho hum. So what to do? Rather than lose the information, I have recast the ebook as a stand-alone volume 'Selecting & Sharpening Your V Tool' and am making it available to you. However there is a condition: IN RETURN FOR DOWNLOADING THIS FREE AND EXTREMELY USEFUL WOODCARVING MANUAL, I AM ASKING YOU TO MAKE A DONATION TO CHARITY, AND FOR WHATEVER YOU THINK MY EFFORTS ON YOUR BEHALF ARE WORTH. The ebook represents a lot of work by me and I would like, through you, to convert that energy into something helpful in the world. IT WILL BE TOTALLY A MATTER FOR YOUR CONSCIENCE but that is what I am asking you to do in return for downloading 'Selecting & Sharpening Your V Tool' for free. In particular, I would like to support Amnesty International, which organization I think we all know and respect (there is a link in the book). But, if you prefer, please make a donation to any other charitable organization of your choice. And feel free to let me know what you do! Lastly, to those that did support me by buying the original ebook, I really appreciated your support. Thank you. There are of course links to the 'Selecting & Sharpening Your V Tool' on the home page of the website but here a direct one: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/v1.html and here is one to all the available ebooks. http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html Enjoy! ________________________________________________ 2. NEW 'INSPIRATION' ________________________________________________ 'Expressionism' describes paintings or sculpture that attempt to express emotional states through exaggeration, colour, or distortion. Franz Xavier Messerschmidt (German 1736-1783) comes well within this definition, created some 69 nearly life-size "character heads" with very strong, sometimes extreme, facial expressions: grins or smiles, sticking out tongues, raised brows. Here is one; an astonishing image: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/gallery/g_inspiration.html The work is in alabaster but very finely executed. Have a look! ________________________________________________ 3. NEW GREEN MAN in the gallery ________________________________________________ Robert Parkin contributes the 20th Green Man to the Gallery: 'Green Man in the Round'. See it here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/greenman/gm_galleryindex.html Anyone else like to contribute? Come on - don't be shy? ________________________________________________ 4. NEW 'OTHER' CARVERS CONTRIBUTION ________________________________________________ A second contribution from Edmond McKamey: a wonderful Mirror frame after one that hangs in the Hershey (as in 'yummy') Hotel, PA: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/othercarvers/othergalleryindex.html This makes 5 great pieces to look at in the gallery. There are stage carvings and notes by the carvers, which are worth studying. Have you carved something of similar standard you'd like to share with others? Let me know! ================================================= That's it. Joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ------------------------- PS: One for the bench: "The path into light seems dark. The path forward seems to go back. The direct path seems long. True power seems weak. True clarity seems obscure... The Tao is nowhere to be found, Yet it nourishes and completes all things." ~ Tao Te Ching #41 ____________________________________________________________ SOME WEBSITE BOOKMARKS ____________________________________________________________ ----------------- TEACHING 2006 * UK (1-TO-1 PERSONAL TUITION) The best way to learn to learn or improve your carving, and easy to arrange. Full details here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/tuition/t_custom.html * USA (CENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP, MAINE) 2006 June 19 - 23 Wood Sculpture June 26 - July 7 Relief Carving July 10 - 14 Intermediate/Advanced Carving Details on the website: http://www.woodschool.org/ ----------------- SLIPSTONES WOODCARVING MANUALS Help yourself! Full list and details: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html * Quick Carving Questions - 1 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq1.html (Sponsored by Tools for Working Wood: http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/) * Quick Carving Questions - 2 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq2.html (Sponsored by Classic Hand Tools: http://www.classichandtools.com/) * Quick Carving Questions - 3 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq3.html (Sponsored by Preferred Edge Carving Knives & Supplies: http://www.preferrededge.ca/) * Quick Carving Questions - 4 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq4.html (Sponsored by The Japan Woodworker: http://www.japanwoodworker.com/) * The Accomplished V Tool 1 - Free evaluation copy http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/v1.html * Learning to Carve - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/learncarving.html * A Guide to Safe Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/safecarving.html * Mistakes and Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/mistakes.html * Fundamentals of Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/fundamentals.html *Slicing, And The Value Of The Inside Bevel With The Chris Pye #2 1/2 Finishing Gouges From Ashley Iles - Free pdf http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slicing.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2006 Chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com ----------------------- -----------------------