Thursday, April 17, 2008

Little Carvings

Folk Art is the arts and crafts produced to fulfill a function by someone who is not artistically trained. In other words, "Joe Blow" needs a ladle to dip fresh water out of his well bucket, so he carves or whittles one. Today, I needed a handle, or pull, for a new maple vanity door, so I carved one instead of wasting the gas to drive to the hardware store to get some little doodad made in China.

It's a very small, but "grabable" pull around the same size as a regular cabinet drawer or door pull. I took a small piece of maple and turned the base on my mini lathe, then carved a small woman's face for the grip. It turned out ok. I put on two coats of tung oil, polished it, then installed it. Here 'tis:

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Big Plans, Little Plans

Ron Cook Studios houses my main business, Coog Instruments & Folk Art. (Web: http://www.cooginstruments.com/. Blog: http://cooginstruments.blogspot.com/.) Ron Cook Studios is also the location for my original, non-musical sculptures and carvings.

I'm getting into an artistic growth period where my creativity seems to want some change. My first love will always be Early American and Early European (medieval) stringed folk instruments, but my mind's been reeling with new ideas and concepts, all within the category of folk art. I've been heavily influenced by my visits to the Museum of Folk Art in New York, especially this last year with the fantastic "From the Synagogue to the Carousel" exhibit." It's hard to put into words how great the folk art carvings were, from the simplest and elementary to the grandest and opulent. It was awe inspiring.

I've always wanted to carve a full-sized carousel animal, and perhaps one day I will. However, for now, I plan to do some smaller carvings this year under the Ron Cook Studios banner. I've ideas, but not yet into the planning stages. Once I get some started and far enough along, I'll take some pictures and post them here.

Onward through the fog.