Artistry in Wood Show

I went to Lincoln City for the Artistry in Wood show on Saturday. There was a combination of turning and carving booths, mostly carving. There were some great pieces to look at. I think there was a little more carving on cottonwood this year, and I even bought a couple of pieces to give it a try. I also picked up some more basswood and a chunk of butternut. I did not take any pictures this year so you get none to see. A nice part of a regular show like this is that the carvers keep getting better over time. I was impressed by some of the work, even though I have seen several of the better carvers before, their new pieces were well executed. There were a few new carvers at the show with interesting projects.

One that caught my eye was a carver in redwood with a Alaskan Tinglet Indian style of work. While I like the ideas and design I felt that the quality was lacking. These pieces were also large, as the smallest was 2x3 feet.

Another table the carver had been carving folding deer, cut from a single 2"x4" piece of wood. He even showed me a experiment he made carving a three fold joint from a single 4"x4" block. It looks technically tough. He also had some spoons/scoops that he carved from a single block that were quite well done, chains that were about 2 feet long and several other items.

They had classes scheduled throughout the day, but I passed on those as I figured my time was limited.

I did pick up info on 2 other shows coming up:

• Lower Columbia Wood Carvers 2010 26ht Anniversary
  
  Sept. 25 & 26, 2010 at the Cowlitz Expo Center
  
  
• Southcoast Woodcarvers 19th Show & Sale
  
  April 17 and 18, 2010 at the North Bend Community Center
  
  

There were 4 large vendors at the show, and a couple of small one selling from within a regular table. The big guys had some of everything that you could use for carving including wood, knifes, books, gloves, rotary grinders and more. I think 2 of the smaller guys were selling custom knives and a third was selling cotton wood for carving.

All in all, it was a good show.
Enjoy, but be careful of the splinters.