EUREKA - THE ORIGINAL

I've been keeping an eye on my Daily Hit Counter since my accident and have sadly watched as the counts dropped off each day. As it seems the herd is straying I think I'd better suck it up and take on a temporary hand...(get it? "Temporary Hand"?)...and try to wrangle you strays back into the corral.

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What better way to do that than to use the carving that made me famous...at least to my mind. I did this one back in 1997 and am proud to say that it took top honors in just about every show it was entered into. It was also featured on the cover of the March-April issue of Chip Chats.

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If you go back to an earlier post titled just "Eureka" I explain the process of how this scene was created. My poor forefinger can't take the punishment of typing all that in again.

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I still have this piece but made another similar one for a collector out in California. If I can ever locate pictures of that one I'll post them in this album.

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So anyway, I hope I can once again pique your interest in this place enough to keep you in sight as I'd sure hate to lose you.

Man vs. Horse......Horse Wins!!!

In trying out a new horse I was thrown and ended up with a crushed left wrist. Operation on Wed. Looks like I won"t be posting for a while. Bummer!!!

Scanned Photos Volume 2

With over 60 photos in the first volume of scanned material I thought I'd better start a new album. As I mentioned before when a piece comes along that I think deserves special consideration I will post a seperate topic on it.

Rise & Shine Boys!

As I mentioned a couple posts back, I was going to try a 3/4 bust. The reason I wanted to do this is because I like to always push the envelope a little by coming up with new or different ways to present a figure. Another reason is to lessen the price of a figure and this certainly should do that. I found it was really amazing how much more quickly I could complete this piece compared to the time it would have taken to do the whole body. I think once the name plate is in place it should make a nice presentation. So.....I'd really like your impressions and thoughts about doing a figure this way. Be honest.....I'm not looking for atta-boys!
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The theme of this piece is that it's just before sunrise and one of the cook's responsibilities is to roust the wranglers for the days work. He's got the biscuits baked and the coffee is hot so it's time to stop dreaming about that new filly down at the saloon. So get your butt out of the bedroll and your tack squared away.......we've got cows to move!
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Comments please .... more photos in the album!

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Update! Just loaded in the photos of him painted up. I think he turned out pretty good!

Cowboy Serenade

Standing beneath the window of his sweetheart this western Romeo is hoping that a few notes from his concertina will win her affections.

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I did this one back in '02 and exhibited it at the Santa Clarita Cowboy Festival in California. I traded it to one of my favorite western painters, Joelle Smith, for two of her paintings. She told me her Dad played the concertina. Sadly, Joelle died from cancer in '05 just as her career was set to take off. Here's a link to her website:

http://www.joellesmith.com/index.htm

A great artist.

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More photos in the album and comments welcome.

Cookie's Gold

Who says that dining on the prairie wasn't that great? Just check out this coosie's menu. We've got beans! We've got coffee! And we've got Cookies golden and crusty nuggets.

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You will probably recognize this pose as being similar to the piece titled "Burnt Biscuits". I actually did this one first and it gave me the thought of the other. Either way there is a lot going on in each scene.

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More photos in the album and comments welcome. Now where's the jelly?

Cookie's Sunday Treat

Another cook...this time whipping up a special treat for the boys....a couple of delicious apple pies. One is in the oven bubbling away and the other will soon to be baking. I put a paring knife in his hand as he's just finished trimming the top crust and adding a few vent holes.

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Having baked quite a few pies off the back of a Chuckwagon myself I can attest that you haven't tasted how great a pie can taste until you've had a piece baked out in the open.

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More photos in the album and comments welcome.

Country Doctors

There are two different Doctors in this album, one done in 1999 and another in 2000. They are smaller than my normal figures, measuring about 6-7 inches tall.

Early Morning Biscuits

I'm still in the "C's" and that means there are more cooks on the way and here is another version of one of my favorite characters. He's standing by his Dutch Oven, ready to apply some disipline to any wrangler who might think he can sneek in and grab a biscuit before the sun comes up.

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Chuckwagon Cooks are really fun to make as there are so many little details you can add to the scene. Also, the flour sack apron really gives one the chance to practice their painting techniques.

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More photos in the album and comments welcome.

Carving A Cowboy Bust - All Finished!

Ready for the big dance, Buckeye's got on his best bandana, some of that fancy toilet water that's guaranteed to make the girls do a doubletake, and he even brushed his tooth! If this don't work he's thinking seriously about volunteering for line-camp duty as there's no hope left!

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This little bust turned out really nice, especially the base idea. I like it so well that I'm going to try a 3/4 figure along the same line. Maybe a Chuckwagon cook.

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Lots of photos in the album and comments welcome as always.

Burning Leather On The 6666

The wife and I drove to Lubbock, Texas back in '01 to attend the National Cowboy Symposium. West of Wichita Falls we came upon the eastern boundary of the Four 6's ranch. Close to 340,000 acres we seemed to drive forever before we came to the western line. Half way we came to the town of Guthrie where the ranch headquarters are located. How many ranches are so large that they have their own town? Quite a place....quite a history. Here's a link if you want to learn more about it: http://www.6666ranch.com/home.shtml

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I thought the brand of this ranch was unique and would make a good item to build a scene around. As is evident from the carving the wrangler's iron is hot and he's waiting for the boys to drag over the next one so he can apply the company's signature.

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Just a couple more photos of this one and comments welcome.

Buffalo Bill

I think this bust of Buffalo Bill stands out from the others so I'll devote a seperate post for it. I completed it back in '03 after a trip through Cody, Wyoming on our way to Yellowstone. If you've never been to Cody and the Buffalo Bill Historical Center that is located there you really owe it to yourself to put it on your "Bucket List"!

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Buffalo Bill is one of my favorite characters from the old west. What a life! What a legend! Someday I'm going to do a complete figure of him....matter of fact I already have the sketch of what I how I want to do it. But that's in the future. I've included another bust of him in the album so you can compare the two. I think this one outshines the other in several ways...presentation and confidence being the two most important.

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More photos in the album and comments are always welcome.

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Burnt Biscuits

One thing for sure....when the boys come riding in at daybreak after a hard night in the saddle and see the carbonized texture of these sinkers any atta-boys the cook managed to accumulate will quickly disappear!

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I did this one back in '02 and believe me it was fun not only in creating this scene it but also in reflecting back on the many times the same thing happened to me when baking biscuits in a dutch oven. But there is one thing about cooking outside in the open and that is that even though you might put a little extra char on your muffins they still taste pretty good!

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More photos in the album and comments welcome.....about the carving! Not about my cooking expertise!

Carving A Cowboy Bust - Finishing Up The Knife Work!

It rained all day so I spent the time in the shop finishing up this piece. I think it turned out really well and I tried a new trick with the base which makes it look even better. I also changed the design of the neckerchief from the original drawing to give him a little more pizzazz.

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There are loads of photos in the album. Now all I have to do is to come up with a name. How about Buckeye? Comments always welcome.

Backdraft

One thing I've learned in scanning all these old photos is that I'm going to have to keep better records. My old, tired eyes can't make out the dates on the carvings so I don't really remember exactly when I did them!

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This one was completed somewhere prior to 2007 as I did a similar one after that titled "Global Warming" (http://outwestwoodcarving.blogspot.com/search?q=global+warming). As the description given for that one would also apply to this piece I won't repeat it. There are a few differences between the two...the stove door is open in the later version and the fella's long john flap is totally down.

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More photos in the Gallery.

Carving A Cowboy Bust-The Head

I'm going to take a break from the Cowboy on a Horse project to get caught up on some upcoming show carvings. Got to make some travel money!! I thought I'd take you along as I carve a Cowboy Bust.

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The head will be carved from a 2 inch thick piece of Basswood. Once it is complete we'll do the lower part of the bust and then the hat. Should make a nice little carving.

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There are lots of photos in the associated album along with some descriptions to help you along. Should you have any questions just drop me a note.

Buffalo Soldier

This is the first Buffalo Soldier I carved. I did him back in 1999 after seeing the movie "Sergeant Rutledge" which starred Woody Strode as 1st Sgt. Braxton Rutledge. Along with some other photos of this piece in the Scanned Photos album is a German movie poster I used as a guide. I managed to get all the details in except for one rather obvious mistake. Can you find it?

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The Buffalo Soldier really makes a nice character to carve as they are so unique to our western expansion. With units of them stationed north of where we live in Fort Scott, Kansas and south at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma I wouldn't be surprised if at one time or other they rode right by our house.

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Since doing this piece I've completed a few others and they have always seemed highly collectable as they don't stick around for long.