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SOME PEOPLE CAN LOOK AT A PIECE OF WOOD AND SEE AN EAGLE, A
HAPPY FACE, OR SOMETHING ABSTRACT.
BUT NO MATTER WHAT THEY SEE AND CARVE, THERE'S PROBABLY A
CATEGORY IT COULD FIT INTO AT THE WOOD CARVING COMPETITION.
WE HAD APPROXIMATELY 200 ENTRIES THIS YEAR.
CATEGORIES RANGE FROM 1-52, AND THEY START OUT WITH DOMESTIC
ANIMALS. WE HAVE WILDLIFE, FISH,
SEASONALS, AND CARICATURE CARVINGS,
WHICH ARE CARVINGS THAT ARE EXAGGERATED SOMEWHAT.
THE RULES ARE FEW AND SIMPLE: THE WORK MUST BE HANDCARVED.
THE PIECES CAN BE UNPAINTED PAINTED, OR STAINED.
WHEN YOU GET INTO THE BIRDS AND THE ANIMALS, THEN YOU GET INTO
PAINTING TECHNIQUES, AIRBRUSHING AND THAT TYPE OF THING, BRUSH
TECHNIQUES. AND A LOT OF THE BIRDS USE THE
WOOD BURNING TO HELP DETAIL THE FEATHERS, AND THE SAME ON FISH
FOR SCALES. §§
THREE JUDGES SPENT HOURS SCRUTINIZING EVERY ENTRY.
§§ SOMETIMES IT'S OBVIOUS.
SOMETIMES IT'S NOT. TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH, I, AND I
THINK THE OTHER TWO JUDGES AS
WELL, HAVE BEEN CONSIDERING THE CRITERIA, BUT THEN DECIDING
WHICH PIECE SPEAKS TO US, WHICH IS THE BEST PIECE, WHICH WOULD
YOU RATHER HAVE ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE.
AND THAT'S THE ONE THAT WINS. §§
I THINK THAT THE SINGLE MISTAKE THAT I SEE MOST FREQUENTLY IS ON
A HUMAN FACE, HAVING THE FACE BE FLAT INSTEAD OF NOSE POINTING
OUT AND THEN SLOPING BACK LIKE IT REALLY IS IN REAL LIFE.
I THINK THAT'S JUST THE WAY PEOPLE SEE THINGS.
WE'RE USED TO SEEING TWO-DIMENSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHS
OF PEOPLE AND NOT CONSIDERING
THE THREE-DIMENSIONAL ASPECT OF IT, AND
SO THAT'S THE WAY THINGS GET CARVED SOMETIMES.
§§ MOST THE CARVERS I KNOW, THEY
REALLY ENJOY IT BECAUSE THEY'VE CREATED SOMETHING THAT THEY CAN
KEEP AT HOME OR HAND DOWN TO THEIR SIBLINGS OR THEIR
GRANDKIDS. IT'S JUST ENJOYABLE.
IT'S KIND OF A STRESS RELIEVER.