Andi Wolfe

That was a fascinating little read...

21 Nov 2009 - Posted latest sphere

You work so hard at what you do..you must be going cross-eyed some days!

Are you going to post the schedule under the events tab on FB?

I'm sure I'll post a calendar there at some point. I need to get busy and do something about my website, too, but time always seems to be a limiting resource. 2011 seems very far away right now, but I will announce that I'm doing a week long class at Arrowmont in late August, 2011 and I'll be one of the featured demonstrators at Turning Southern... See More Style VII Sept 16 - 18, 2011.

I have a trip to Australia scheduled for March, 2012, too. Wow - that's planning in advance!

Now, if only 2010 would get a jump start. Right now I have a schedule building for my spring break period in 2010 to do some stuff in Oregon.

10 inches tall, 7 inches diameter. I'm working this up for submission to the next AAW symposium exhibit. I think the deadline is in February. I wish I had a bigger piece of wood for this one; it would have been easier to work the inside if the interior diameter was a bit larger. As it is, I should be able to maneuver through the spaces I've made by cutting away the negative space, but I'm anticipating quite a few challenges with this one.

Oh, BTW, I managed to break the first bur on the project this evening. One of my saw drill bits was getting metal fatigue and was also dull. The heat friction softened up the metal to the point of sheer stress and it broke in three pieces. Now I'll have to order the next couple of sets as back-up burs. Should have put in for two more sets on my last order.

I'm certainly finding this to be the case with my latest project. I found a solution to carving out the negative space, but it's tedious and time consuming. The tool I'm primarily using is a 1/8" mini saw drill bit from Woodcarvers Supply. Lots of smoke and heat from friction and quite a bit of tension in getting through a wall thickness of 1.5 inches. I've removed one of three sections thus far.

This is what makes life so interesting, everyone is different.

I find that art, music and science are all related. I seem to use the same kind of creative energy in each of these endeavors.

What do you mean by negative space? It sounds philosophical or psychological. How does it pertain to creating art?

Ok so I understand negative space - material that is removed during the creation process. But exactly how big is this project. And OBTW pictures would be appreciated.

The negative space is the area in between the leaves that will be completely removed. I've been taking progress pics, but haven't loaded them on the computer as of yet. Will find time this week to do so.

Right now the form is 10 inches tall by 7 inches diameter at the widest point. I turned it as a hollow form with 1 to 1.5 inch wall ... See Morethickness. It's kind of egg shaped. Because of the narrow openings, barely large enough to put my hand through, I did a layout design that should allow some maneuvering space once I remove all the wood between the leaves. I'll be carving the interior as well as the exterior to make this sculpture as life-like as possible. Carving the inside of this piece is going to be a huge challenge.

Negative space is crucial for directing the eye and for creating a sense of movement in the leaves I carve.

Thanks Andi!

I'd never heard of these...thanks!

like your sumac leaf in your photo?

Sort of. This one started as a hollow form. The trick will be to figure out how to get enough working space to be able to carve inside as well as out. I may have to spend some time thinking about layout on this one.

You could always de-construct, carve, then re-construct. Be wary of mixing CA glue and pyro.