The most students I have had in my workshop at one time is 7 (Charles Neil and gang). I had to clear out areas in my shop that had not seen light for a very long time in order to find a place for them all. This past class wasn’t nearly as crowded, but I did have to find enough level spaces on workbenches for 5 students.
A great group of guys from Asheville, NC area came down to little ol’ Charleston for a 2-day carving class. They drove down with their spouses, and while their wives went shopping, the guys spent 2 days studying woodcarving with me. I personally would rather be carving – but that’s me (unless I’m shopping for tools). They were a relatively subdued, well-behaved, and focused group – definitely NOT like the Charles Neil Gang.
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- Shop cat making his home in one of the guy’s tool bags. This cat is the “only child” of our stray cat that had the “litter of kitten”
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- 4 of the students and me holding the Virgin Mary for a creche scene I am carving.
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- Happy, satisfied and tired students.
We covered a lot in 2 days – several of the guys had never carved before so we started with the basics (the worm!) and then the camellia and finally the shell. Two others who had carving experience carved a ball and claw, and one other with carving experience carved a shell on the back-splat of a chair. Everyone did very well with the carvings, and a genuinely nice group of guys – they even took me out for lunch! How much better could it get???
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- Finding enough workbench space for everyone.
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- Carving the details of the camellia
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- Delicate carving of the camellia (do you see the worm carving?)
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- Rounding the ball
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- Layering the petals on the camellia
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- Intense focus carving the ball and claw foot
