My first Juried Show

Every year for fifty three years Columbia Missouri, my adopted American town, hosts Art in the Park on the first weekend in June. This event is a spectacle of the finest artist in the Midwest and beyond. The process of being accepted to participate in this show is to apply with a photographed selection of your work to be presented to a panel of jurors who are experts in various different fields of art and craft. These jurors decide who is admitted to the show and have traditionally being spoiled for choice with the quality of the work.

Well this year folks the collection of artists will include Yours Truly, AKA Twinwood Carving. I am honored and humbled to be included with this fine collection of artists who represent the best of American art and craftsmanship. This summer I hope to have the inventory to stock three shows. I haven't quite decided which I'll do yet but the Art in the Park is a fantastic start. I'm including the pictures taken for the jury process for your viewing pleasure. They were taken at Art Impressions Gallery in Sedalia MO.  On the Right you see a walnut trencher currently for sale on Etsy.com

This bowl is carved from cherry and sold online before Christmas last year. Cherry is wonderful to carve but finishing it is a challenge. It polishes to a glass like finish which means that even to smallest scratch is obvious to the naked eye. Needless to say sanding is a laborious process.

This bowl is carved from Sassafras, a wonderful, aromatic wood that is easy to carve and finish. The wonderful eucalyptus smell lingers in the shop for days after tackling one of these. This bowl was bought by a neighbor when she came across my stand at a fundraising show for the Alzheimer's Association.

This bowl is carved from Walnut. The wonderful grain pattern is formed where the mill cuts a piece of wood slightly across the grain. This bowl sold online before Christmas to a lady in Georgia.

Blizzards and Coughs

All the plans in the world can we torn asunder by a cough, a sneeze, or 20 inches of snow in 12 hours. I haven't been very active on the blog lately but the time has come to post some musings on my current predicament and the incredible Christmas sales that Twinwood Carving experienced.

Over the Christmas Holidays I sold every one of my bowls, that's right, anything that could be described as a vessel for holding something sold. Thanks to all those who purchased from me and supported handmade items made right here in Missouri USA. This allowed me to purchase all kind of items for the wood shop and restock my bowl blanks with all kinds of woods including Butternut, sassafras, walnut, and cherry.

I entered January committed to carving three bowls a week at least. But as they say "the plans of and men" etc. In order for me to get into the shop my twin boy need to go to day care. Unfortunately between coughs, blizzards, and snow days they haven't got into school any day this week or last week. According to my calculations I've only had six days in the shop so far this year! O well, here's a selection of some of the few bowls I've made so far.

This bowl is carved from Sassafras, an aromatic wood that has a beautiful golden color with a distinctive triple bladed leaf.

This bowl is carved from a large piece of Missouri butternut. Butternut is rare here in MO so this piece is quite a find. The wood was sitting in a guys basement for twenty years but he posted on Craig's List of it's existence.

This bowl is carved from Walnut, it is long and shallow with a beautiful grain pattern formed when two branches join in the tree. This pattern believe it or not is called a "crotch" pattern.