Wood Spirit Project

Last time I was laid up some of my planned projects didn't really get off the ground. This time I'm determined to do something more constructive than watching DVD's and sitting in front of the computer!

So...Let the projects begin!

The first project I wanted to try was fine wood carving. I've done the usual spooncraft and tried a little bit of fine carving like the feather on my tracking stick but I've been intrigued by wood spirits since I saw my mate Adam have a go at one. Additionally, this is something I can do indoors with minimal mess!

I bought a cheap 8 piece detailed carving set for about £8-00 from Axminster tools just to see how I got on and found a couple of bits if wood knocking about.

I followed a tutorial on the net (the YouTube tutorials aren't really good enough) and set to work on a practice carving.

I was quite pleased with the first one but found that because I was working on a much smaller piece of wood than was originally advised (plus it was round and not square) it was quite tough work. Mind you, if I could do it on this, I could probably do it on any sized wood.

I had a go at a second face. Even though I employed the same system and cuts, the wood spirit design came out completely different (and actually not as good).

Even so, I got confident enough to put a wood spirit on my beloved tracking stick. I wish I hadn't started! It started off as a complete disaster! I cut the nose too short and a myriad of other things went wrong. The one thing that kept going through my mind was that I'd have to get another tracking stick. I really had to work hard in covering up my mistakes.

In the end I think I got away with it. I decided to leave the wood spirit looking craggy and slightly angry; a reflection of how I treated it in creating it! I'll put some boiled linseed oil on it later and leave it at that.

You might smile at the last but one sentence but it's true what they say about carving wood spirits. Not only is every carving different, it's as if the wood itself and not necessary the carver which is dictating how it will end up. Quite spookily, it's almost as if the wood wants you to carve it in it's representational form. Fascinating stuff. I'm definitely hooked and you may well see a few more of these cropping up in the future, but they'll certainly be improved versions... I hope!

Have a look here at some proper ones.