Pennsylvania Dutch Carved Trivet: "Chasing Mink"

What does the artist do? He draws connections. He ties the invisible threads between things.

—Anselm Kiefer

INSPIRATION

It is fascinating to look back and see how events wildly separated in space and time all became connected by this piece of wood. What appeared to be disparate threads of inspiration came together to weave this trivet into being. Below is a list of those events.

The first event occurred in November of this year.  My friend Tiffany who lives in New Hampshire told me that something was killing their chickens.  So she and her husband Brian decided to put a camera into the coop to see what was going on.  One day she texted me the photo below.

She told me the remaining chickens seemed to be traumatized and would not go back into the coop.  Eventually they were down to one solo chicken and they had to re-home it on a farm so it could be with other chickens.  I noted the story and didn't think much more about it until a couple weeks later when Tiffany told me she put something in the mail for me.  She told me not to worry about getting them anything for Christmas...that is unless I was going to make something.

Tiffany and I share a love of making (IG: wunderkammerworkshop and curiousgood).  I would describe both of us as "makers" to our core.  We both like to dabble and play...she is brilliant and tends towards electronics, robots, glass, and machinery.  I tend toward printmaking, folk art, illustration and watercolor.  So when I thought about what to get Tiffany for Christmas I knew it had to be handmade...but what? My mind started working on it.  

The second event might better be described as a growing interest in wood carving. One of my artistic goals this past year was to try mediums different from printmaking.  This is partly due to the foxing fiasco that ruined many of my prints last year (bottom of this post) and a desire to make something more durable.  But also because carving is my favorite part of the printmaking process.  In addition, ever since I tried my hand at carving my neighbor's chair that needed restoration, I have been wanting to attempt it again...just carving...no printing.

1. My bird chair carving  2. My friend John's chip carving  3. My favorite trivet

And, by chance, just last week I came across two wood carvings that deeply inspired me.   My friend John posted a photo on Facebook of his chip carving.  John and I grew up on the same street and went to exactly all the same schools from nursery to grad school.  And weirdly we have shared similar creative interests over the years, including chip carving. 

Also, the same week, I had been clearing space for Christmas decorations and had moved three wooden trivets I love that I always have on display.  As I moved them, a flower in the middle of one of them caught my eye and I stopped to really admire the rustic beauty of the carving.  I imagined some person in India carving this many years ago and how this wooden circle travelled quite a distance to come into the hands of a girl living in Ohio who would love the designs and be inspired to make something similar. 

The third factor that contributed inspiration is my obsession with folk designs.  When I started going to antique shows, one of the first items I began collecting were textiles (red, yellow, pillow) and signs with Pennsylvania Dutch  designs.  My friend Courtney even sent me a book she found with incredible photos of these motifs.  You can see the book and the hex sign I painted for my Dad's shed in this post.

You might wonder what brought all these pieces together and the answer is, "meditation".  One day I was sitting in my daily class at the Mystery School letting my thoughts slowly drift to the bottom of the ocean, when something arose from the depths.  Sometimes when this happens I let the thought arise and sink back down.  But I couldn't ignore this one...it just kept bobbing up. The thought was "I should carve Tiffany a trivet in the Pennsylvania Dutch style with a man and a woman chasing a mink chasing a chicken!" I would make what is possibly the world's first hand-carved Pennsylvania Dutch "Chasing Mink" trivet!

SKETCHES

Even for me this was an ambitious idea.  I wasn't sure I could draw this, let alone carve it.  But right after meditation I did a few rough sketches seen below.

DESIGN

Originally I thought I would alternate the position of the running mink from stretched-out to contracted.  The beauty of designing it in Illustrator is that I tried out all sorts of variations.  In the end I chose to keep the same mink and just alternate the man and woman so that it would have a consistent feel in each quadrant.  It felt too asymmetrical alternating the mink position.  Below you can see how I started with my rough sketches and then traced them in Illustrator and refined the design.  I am always surprised at how my wonky sketches end up working out somehow.

After finalizing the design I printed it on regular paper.  I bought the wood circle at JoAnn Fabrics and planned the design to fit perfectly to that size.

TRANSFER

I used carbon paper to transfer the design from my printout to the wood.

CARVING

I was nervous to start the carving.  When I looked at the design I felt it was a formidable challenge.  I wasn't sure if the people were too small and if I was going to be able to even carve something so detailed. 

But after the the first chicken and mink I felt relieved that it was probably possible.  Below is a photo after my first day carving.  I have no idea how long this took me...most likely somewhere between two and four hours.

Below is a photo at the end of day 3.

I was getting excited at this point and knew it would go much easier once everything was "outlined."

I saved the scalloped edge for last.  I wasn't sure how the scallops were going to interact with the bevel exactly, but I figured I would wing it as I carved.

Whenever I see the photo below I think of golden Oreo cookies.  As you can see, I ended up keeping the scallops flat and adding simple line details coming out of each scallop.  I also spent days deepening the flat surfaces.

Below you can see detail shots of the different quadrants.

In this photo you can see the cross grain cuts of the scallop lines started to get pretty chewed up.  Cutting across the grain in pine felt like pushing a bulldozer through dried mud.  It just crumbled away.  Luckily, the piece was meant to have a rough feel so I didn't sweat it too much.

I also tried to add subtle shaping to each figure.  You can see this in the woman's skirts and I added even more shaping to the rooster's arm feathers after this photo was taken.

I did accidentally cut off one of the mink's tails and perhaps a foot or two.  But I just carefully saved the pieces and glued them back on.

ADDING THE FEET

I wanted to add feet to the trivet so George helped me cut three small pieces with our Japanese hand saw. 

We sanded the edges of the feet to soften their look and feel.

Before gluing the feet on I scored the surface.  George also pre-drilled the nail hole.  He then poked the nail through and made a divet in the trivet exactly with the foot in our chosen position.  Then once I put the glue on he could find the spot again easily.

In addition to hammering the brad, he also used a countersink to make sure the nail was deeply embedded.

Below you can see the placement of the feet.  I also carved my initials and the date at the bottom.

STAINING

My friend Mark helped me research various options for staining.  Apparently some polyurethanes are not suitable for heat.  He loaned me both Tung and Danish oil and I chose Tung, mainly because it had a matte finish and could take heat well.

After staining with one coat I realized I wanted it to be darker.  I liked the light look but thought a stain might delineate the carving lines.

I read online that you can add oil-based stain into Tung oil.  So I mixed in  a little bit of Early American Minwax stain.  Again, I applied it and let it sit five minutes or so...and then rubbed it off.  I probably stained it five times to get it to the darkness shown below (I started to lose track after a while.)

Below is a photo of the finished carving and some detail shots.  

My favorite part was the center flower and leaves.

When I showed my Mystery School friend this photo, she exclaimed, "It's a trauma trivet!"  It's definitely the world's first "Chasing Mink" trauma trivet.

FINAL PHOTOS

I might have continued staining until the cows came home but I wanted to mail it in time for Christmas.  It was time to take some final photos and wrap it up!

I took a couple photos to show the feet. You can see how they were fairly low but add a nice bit of elevation to the piece.

I also had fun photographing it with my Christmas decorations.

I think these Christmas trees were jealous of the carving.  Either that or they were quaking in their boots that I would take a knife to them!

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads form one to another that creates something.

—Sandra Day O'Connor

VIDEO

I normally make all my videos 60 seconds or less and I thought about breaking this video into carving and staining sections.  But the photos and video went so well with the music I kept it as one complete story.  Turn your volume on!  (Music by Aleksey Chistilin from Pixabay)
 

CONCLUSION

In the end I was very happy with the whole experience.  It always feels good to attempt something a little past my abilities and see it turn out.  I definitely would do a few things differently next time, but overall this exceeded my expectations.  I like that you can buy a simple circle of pine wood from a craft store and make something amazing from it. 

I also like to look back and see how following threads of joy inspired the whole project. How a simple comment from my friend Tiffany nudged me to "make" something.  How my chip-carving friend's post caught my eye.  How cleaning and handling my favorite trivets, my love of Pennsylvania Dutch textiles and designs, a meditation, and the photo of a mink with a full tummy, all provided influence.  These events entered this awareness and exited these hands in the form of a carved piece of wood.  How amazing is that?  How we influence each other and how interconnected we all are!  I like to think that we are capable of spreading joy like wildfire.  By chasing our joy like a farmer chases mink we can create something the world has never seen before!  This world is pure magic.

"This joy thing is a really big deal. First to recognize its power, second to feel its authenticity, and finally to follow it's vibration. The frequency of joy (holding the vibration of joy for minutes or longer) is what grows your wealth, loving relationships, magnificent work in the world that is beyond fulfilling, and incredible health. It is your north star, your yellow brick road. It is everything."
—Marie Manuchehri

Wishing you and yours much joy in the coming year!        

 A big thank you to George for always helping me with my crazy projects.  Your support and food keep me alive.

Also, a big thank you to my neighbor Mark for tolerating my constant wood projects that need advice and help.  I am rich in oil and friendship.

Core Clay Watercolor Illustration

My neighbor Laura Davis is the owner of Core Clay in Norwood.  This week is her birthday so I decided to do an illustration of her building.  There are two entrances to Core Clay and I decided to draw the side entrance on Hudson Ave. This was mainly because one day I was on my walk and took a photo of this entrance... I liked the way the yellow-orange building stood out against the grey and white buildings next to it.  I didn't happen to take a photo of the front entrance that day or maybe I would have drawn that.  But something about the subtle character of this side of the building called out to me and I always see Laura's white van parked there, so it reminded me of her too.

Below you can see my workspace.  I like to print out a copy of the photo and I also compare it to the Google map images to see different angles of the building.  This was especially helpful in this case since I took the cars away in the driveway and the street and had to make up the scene behind the cars. 

Below is a close-up of the building.  I have a soft spot in my heart for old factory buildings.  I think they are beautiful inside and out.  I remember the first time Laura gave me a tour of the building.  I was like, "OMG Laura...this is impressive!"  It is a HUGE building that bends around the grey building shown below in an "L" shape.   This building also has an original, still-functioning freight elevator that can hold cars.  It always scares me a bit being inside that cage door when it closes, but it is such a cool experience to ride in it.

Outside the door they have used old kilns as planters...the perfect touch for a clay studio.  

Normally I would have made a video of the process but I was halfway through painting it before I realized I forgot.  I am out of practice.  This project was good for me to dip my brush back into the creative bucket.

If you  need the perfect holiday gift, stop by Core Clay's shop, Mason Gallery (entrance on Montgomery Rd.).  I got half my Christmas gifts there last year! 

Laura and I have gotten to know each other through playing games on the weekends at my neighbor's house.  She and I like to go for the food and pay little attention to the actual game-playing.  But I like to think we contribute some entertainment.  Mostly Laura entertains and I am her audience.  But she has definitely added some spice to game night and has most definitely broadened my naughty-word vocabulary in the past year.  So in honor of her special birthday (yes, she did get an AARP envelope in the mail this year!) I would like to wish her a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! 

"You’re mad. Bonkers. Off your head. But I’ll tell you a secret: Some of the best people are."

— Lewis Carroll, Alice In Wonderland

Linocut House Portrait

“I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen.” — A.A. Milne

Sometimes you meet someone and you know they are going to play an important role in your life.  Christina Wald is one of those people for me.  I met Christina thirteen years ago when she was in charge of the Cincinnati Illustrator lunches.  We quickly became friends and before I knew it I was off traveling with her to a travel sketching workshop in Taos.  Christina has a way of pushing me to do things that might be out of my comfort zone...but in the best way.

This past year she was asked me to be a guest on her podcast "Sketchy Talk" to talk about my new children's book.  Again, I felt out of my comfort zone, but, as usual, it was probably good for me.  

We chatted for an hour about all sorts of things and the time flew by.  If you are interested in sketching, travel, or art, I highly recommend joining her Patreon.  She has illustrated over 60 children's books and is also leading travel workshops around the world that you can see here.

For my birthday Christina gave me the above sketch framed.  And so this year, for her birthday, I decided to make her a linocut portrait of her house.

Sketch

I began making the print by choosing a photo.  I usually take my own photos, but I was under a time crunch and ended up using a Google photo of her house.  I traced the outlines of her house, eliminating the distracting telephone pole and wires.  I also experimented with drawing in the roof tiles, but decided against it in the end.  Sometimes, simple is better on a small linocut.  In addition, I wasn't sure if I was going to make the print black and white or color.  I played with shading the roof shadows in my sketch and it was helpful to think about what I might leave completely black.

Transfer to block

After completing the sketch I transferred my drawing to the Safety-Kut block by simply flipping it over and rubbing the back with a credit card. You can see a video of that process here.

Carving

Once the image was transferred I used my Flexcut v-gouge to carve the design.  

Test Print

I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the grass black or carve it away and paint it green.  If I kept the print black and white I was most likely going to leave the grass black.  

After I saw the test print I realized I didn't like the way the grass was outlined.  I should have left the sides of the grass connected to the edges.  That pretty much made my decision to use watercolor for the final print.  This is why it is important to do a test print!

Printing

When I went to look for black ink I couldn't find any.  What kind of printmaker doesn't have black ink?  Luckily I found a very old tin of Gamblin's in the back of my ink drawer.  It was hard on the outside...but I was able to find some wet ink by burrowing deep inside the tin.   

I printed about half with the black grass and then carved the grass away for the rest.  Here they are drying on the studio table.  I tried a new wax drier which helped speed the drying time and it worked great!

Watercolor

Once the print was dry I brought it upstairs to watercolor.  I am still using the first Winsor and Newton travel watercolor kit I bought twelve years ago on my trip with Christina, although I have had to refill a few of the colors.

Video

One of the things I have discovered about myself is that I love making videos of the process.  My favorite part is setting the music to the photos and videos...so turn your volume on! 

Framing

I framed the print in an 8 x 8 frame matted to 4x4.  It is so satisfying to see it framed.  Christina had us over for a fancy hot pot dinner on her birthday.  I delivered her gift and I think she and her husband liked it.  

"Stick with people who pull the magic out of you." —Unknown

I had not made a print in over a year and it felt good to get back to it.  The last twelve months have been difficult.  Sometimes it feels like I have been in a free fall...or that things will never return to normal again.  In some ways, they won't.  But I do know that we are all connected...and the connections we have with others help catch us when we fall.  They are like a safety line tied round our waists.  I believe these connections can also feed us light and help us shine.  I am so thankful to be connected to a lovely web of friends and family.  I feel held by these strong cords and you all feel like home.

When I was making the print I thought about leaving the windows dark, like in the photo.  But when I imagined Christina and her husband Troy inside, I pictured them as two very bright lights.  I made the windows white and liked the idea of my two friends lighting up the whole house, with light pouring out the windows.  A big thanks to both of them for their friendship and love.  And a heartfelt wish to Christina to have a Happy Birthday and wonderful year filled with travel, art, and friends.