Newsletter - Woodcarvers

Wood Chips

Newsletter for September 2026

Carving days: Wednesdays 10am-2pm
Art & Soul, Sebastopol
Second Saturday carving/potluck @*** ???
September 12th, 9am – 1pm

Greetings Fellow Carvers!
We have survived the Fair! The Sonoma County Fair was a great success, if the sheer numbers of flyers we passed out (almost 200) is any indication…And the weather was mostly delightful – the three days I “worked” the table, we never turned on the fan I brought to mitigate the often-uncomfortable heat in the building. The Fair is ever more expensive to attend, though happily, if you arrived within the first hour after opening, parking was free! As a result of the cost, it again felt like attendance was down, except on the lonely
senior day. Nevertheless, we may soon be inundated with eager new carvers! I’ve cut out more penguin blanks in anticipation of the pending new carver tsunami…

I am pleased by the level of participation this year, both in entries and in manning the demonstration table… My proposal that every SCW member enters at least one thing apparently resonated with some of you, and I hope that everyone enjoyed the challenge enough to inspire the rest of our fellow members for next year. It only costs $5 to enter in fine arts (that’s us!) or in adult home arts (crafts) category and you get a free entry ticket, which offsets the price of admission quite nicely. Additionally, table volunteers receive tickets and parking compensation. Entries must have been completed within two years of the Fair, so dust off your recent past masterpieces, or start carving something now for next year!

Anyhow, many thanks to the dedicated bunch that manned our demonstration table at the County Fair, some several times: Judy Hess, Bert Flack, Dick Hensley, David Hensley, John Braschi, Tom Babcock, David Richards, Randy Frost, Wayne Van Heusen, Frank Baumgardner, Marie Hruby, Neil Maloney and I all did our parts. In any case, good times were had by all! My apologies if I miss anyone’s entries or service.

Day One: SCW table awaiting fans

As I have mentioned previously, a lot of people who stop by our demo table comment that they don’t have the patience for carving, or that we must be very patient people… I maintain that persistent or perseverant would be more apt. Patience implies waiting for something to happen, while we all know that nothing will if we don’t keep at it. Carving is one of the contemplative arts, it’s true, and time spent planning is well spent, but I’ve found making the first cut will lead to the next and ultimately a satisfying finished project.

August Second Saturday was hosted by Nona Estabrook. The project was kolrosing, as several of us learned at Oakhurst this past year as part of Darryl Easter’s folding spoon class. Only Sharon, Judy, Nona & I were in attendance (Petaluma being so far away…) but we had a lovely time experimenting with kolrosing, followed by a light and delicious lunch.

Judy Hess, Nona Estabrook & Sharon Terrel Kolrosing on second Saturday.

Pyrography group: The August gathering of woodburners was held in my garage on August 29th . Fun times! As is everything else in my life just now, the September pyrography get-together (on the 26th – aka last Saturday, 9-11am ) is up in the air. Cancellation is the likely outcome, but my garage space is available if anyone wants to set it up. I’ll watch, and visit.

The Tri-Valley Show shares that weekend and often several people plan to head down on Sunday morning. Talk to your carving buddies and organize your own carpools. In addition to enjoying the talents of our carving friends, there will likely be opportunities to purchase wood, tools and blanks. We generally have lunch with our friends and then head home before the heat of the day takes us down.

General: We have a lot of talent and experience in this group of ours that we need to be prepared to share with new people. We do have basic beginners’ projects (penguin, otter, hummers) ready, along with loaner tools to get new folk started, as well as a general teaching plan. Step up and lend a hand – all of us have the skills to start new carvers, and most of us have the patience. Others of us with bandsaws need to keep an eye on our blank supply and make more as we use them up and be available for more advanced blank requests. Think about what you would like to teach, or learn, for that matter. Let me know if you’ve got any ideas on this, or better yet, come to the next weekly meeting for a discussion! Come prepared to carve at our Second Saturday gatherings; we try to have simple group projects to carve together.

So, what has everyone been up to? Sonoma County Fair edition

Dick Hensley’s handsome gargoyle was awarded a second-place red ribbon. Dave Hensley’s panda pyrography received the blue ribbon in its class.
Ann Bruner-Welch received 3rd place for her lovely dreamcatcher. Her eagle photo was n/a.

Judy Hess, with 8 entries in a wide range of areas, received a blue ribbon for her bears relief/pyrography and red ribbons for both her mouse pyrography and her spoon, while her colored pyrography mushroom house received a 4th place pink ribbon. She also won several ribbons in other mediums.

Frank Baumgardner entered a “spooning sardines” spoon in kitchen arts and with the painting talent of his wife, Kathleen, received a blue ribbon. One of Tom Babcock’s very fine spoons got a 4th, while the other was n/a.

Neil Maloney, one of our oldest members, and an awesome carver and teacher, took a 5th place ribbon for his 4-sided bark house. He was a wonderful addition to our table, talking to everyone from the depths of his experience. He also received an honorary Best of Show from Martin, one of our favorite Fair workers.

Marie Hruby, one of our newer members and a first time Fair participant, got a well-deserved 3rd on her hummer and flower scene. This was only her third project, and she is well on the way to becoming a fine carver.

Jose Padilla won first and Best of Show for his multimedia porcupine pufferfish, “Porsche”

Gabe Shain took blue ribbons for his woodland scene featuring a hawk and for his raptor headed walking stick, while his ruddy duck decoy was awarded 4th place and his platypus got 5th. His animal head pins both got n/a’s. The felted frog and cat looked great and got 5th and 3rd respectively. His woodcut print got a 1st.

I got carried away in the entry department, as is my tendency, with 10 entries. I entered again this year in the professional category, (not that I consider myself as a professional – I think that one would have to make a living or at least a profit at it…) but in reading the Fair definition saw that teachers are included and having taught a few times at Oakhurst, it seems appropriate. My Fair themed entry (Festivals, Fiestas, and Fun), the donkey bank painted as a Pinata, my goat, and my little bark owl woman each got blue ribbons. Second place red ribbons were awarded to my hobbit, my rearing horse, and my woodchuck pyrography. A 3rd went to my bonsai pyrography, a 4th to my hobbit house and a 5th to my small bark relief of a grazing horse. My foray into watercolor didn’t receive an award, but I liked seeing it there among the hanging art anyway.

I got a little bit of carving done at the fair and talked a whole lot (as did we all…) including to a group ofyoung women bearing Press credentials and cameras. Not the PD, so who knows what might come of it. I brought my fruit bowl and seemed to spend much of my time demonstrating how the fruit opened to reveal the carvings inside. My carving buddies and even a fair worker or two helped me out with that when I wandered

Reminders: Don’t forget to bring a seat cushion, generally a comfortable recommendation…Also, the store requests that we shake off our chips better before venturing to the restrooms or greater store area.

As Always: In this increasingly contentious political climate, this bears reiterating: A couple of years ago, I ran into a former SCW member who besides being busy, cited politics as the reason he no longer attended… This is just sad, and points out the why of our no politics or religion policy. There are plenty of other things to talk about and no one should ever feel uncomfortable or alienated.

Relief tip: Many of us were taught by Ellie Nevin to “carve (relief) on the outside of the tree” as evidenced by the curve of the end grain on the board and have tried to do so. In the course of seeking patterns for a relief project I came across the following explanation in the book Wood Carving Techniques (and projects you can make). “Since wood has a tendency to cup toward the heartwood (inside) and toward its carved side, you can counteract these two forces and reduce the likelihood of warping by carving on its sapwood (outside) side.”

Happy September Birthdays to:

Clay McDonell
Leonard Riepenhoff
Sandy Holz
Priscilla Farmer
Sharon Terrel
Chelle Cardenas McDonell

Dates to remember:
September 12th Second Saturday at ??? 9am-1pm
September 12 – 13th Tri Valley Woodcarvers Show , Pleasanton
September 19 – 20th Central Coast Woodcarvers Show, Cambria
September 25-27th – 20th annual Bay Area Makers Faire on Mare Island. Big Fun!!!
Talk to Ann Bruner-Welch or Dave Richards if you’re interested in participating.
Saturday, September 26th Pyrography at Theda’s 9-11am. Sign up required, only 8 spaces.

Next year:
April 11-17th 2027 18th annual Oakhurst Woodcarvers Rendezvous
For more information contact: Dennis Ciccarelli #209-402-3583 or [email protected]
Or Eric Jensen #559-580-7719 or [email protected]