Floral Cascade

[JudsonCarroll]

I'm carving a Grinling Gibbons style piece right now, a floral cascade in seven separate pieces and three layers, about 17" x 9", and it's exhausting me...I broke a delicate, good sized piece in three places as I carved on it yesterday. Laid my tools down, swept up my chips and wouldn't even look at it then. I have to recarve that piece and carve three more before I start cleaning up and thinning out the parts prior to assembling. This is by far the most ambitious carving I've attempted. I spend as much time thinking about how I'm going to carve as I do actually carving. I'm posting a picture of what I'm attempting.

If you're not familiar with Gibbons, Google him...you'll be amazed at the work he did.

WOW, that is seriously impressive!

[Claude]

Great progress, Arthur!

Claude

[Nebraska]

Going to be soooo cool.

[Merle Rice]

Hi, Arthur, that is going to be your Masterpiece . A Beautiful Piece of Art. Merle

[Arthur C.]

Cascade1.jpg Cascade.jpg A couple of shots of work in process. Mostly rough carved, the two flowers at the top have been started since this pic was taken, and the two at bottom are done, Still refining/modifying/cleaning up. Should finish up in another week or so, but life has been interfering with my progress so far, lol. Having camera problems, so it's a bit farther along than shown.

[FWW9120]

I took a class with Alexander Grabovetskiy about two years ago, this style is pretty much all he does. He has videos on YouTube and personal website were he teaches online classes. Was a great class but not my cup of tea if you will. This is what I made during the 5 days. The class I attended was at Mark adams school of woodworking (Fantastic school).

As you can see I never finished it, but one day I will.

Looking forward to seeing your finished project Arthur.

I also took a class at marc Adams with Grabovetskiy. He has an amazing personal backstory, having been imprisoned in the USSR for practicing Christianity and refusing the enter the Red Army. Amnesty International brought him and his wife and infant son to the US, as he was considered a political prisoner. After dinner the second night of the weeklong class, he showed slides of his home and hometown in the USSR...and now he resides and works in the "Gold Coast" area of Florida and has some of the wealthiest clients possible. If you've never seen his work, check it out.

This is a photo of the project that I made - every year he chooses a different one, but always in this style. It just happened to fit nicely in an easel that came with a set of oil paints so I leave it there to display it. It is carved from a 2" thick slab of basswood - it's not an applied carving. I found the undercutting (to give the leaves a paper-thin edge) much easier than I thought it might be, as long as your tools are sharp.

This was one of the first carvings I did - I'm new to carving but have done some decent woodworking for many years. Because I was a beginner and carved slowly, I stayed later each night than the others in order to get the most out of the class. Image00002.jpg Image00001.jpg Image00003.jpg

[pallin]

I recall seeing a Gibbons-style floral carving in a museum in Grindelwald, Switzerland. It was a bouquet of irises, very life-like, natural sized in a glass case. It had won some international award.

[Claude]

That is some project, Arthur! Looks like you are doing well so far.

Claude

[yolli]

Oh Arthur...please share your photos...looks great...good luck and patience.

[NoDNA]

Arthur : I thought I was "????" That is a great one to get to. At most my Moose is just a flat board!!
Thanks for showing this.. I shall watch you on this one.
Chuck

[Just Carving]

I give you a lot of credit Arthur. I'm familiar with Gibbons' work and as patient as I am and as capable of carving thin and fragile wood, I'll stick to my bears, thank you!

I wish you good luck and lots of patience!

BobL

[Nebraska]

I’m thinking flowing abstract shapes with lots of incorporated fine details carved in sections or clusters and then brought together to form cohesive piece.

[Arthur C.]

Arthur C.

Been thinking of doing some contemporary projects. Looking at this has me thinking of a multi piece project of detailed contemporary shapes.

Ed, that sounds interesting...please elaborate on "contemporary shapes": are you thinking abstract, geometric, realistic, or what? Integrated into a single mass or sited separately? Now you have me thinking!

[Nebraska]

Arthur C.

Been thinking of doing some contemporary projects. Looking at this has me thinking of a multi piece project of detailed contemporary shapes.

[Arthur C.]

Scott, Grabovetskiy is one of the most talented carvers in the world today. I follow him on YouTube and would love to take classes with him, but that's not in the cards for me. I hope you do finish your carving, it looks like you're well on the way.