One of 3 Projects to come

Last week was spent at the Scottsdale Artist School in (duh?) Scottsdale.  It was fantastic, Diane took a workshop from John Michael Carter and I took one from his wife, Barbara, to learn the art of gilding a picture frame.  The workshop was intense, each day we were in the studio from 9 to 4 and usually stayed late and started early.  Diane had entered this painting of Ali into the 19th. Annual Oil Painters of America show and it was accepted.  As it turns out, one of the jurors happened to be John Michael Carter.  Even before this, I knew I was going to take the gilding workshop and had begun to design a frame, it is 16" x 20" and so was the Ali painting.  My goal now is to carve and gild this frame in time for the show which is during the end April and will be held in the Legacy Gallery in Scottsdale.

                        

The pictures aren't too clear but I think you can get the idea of the design. I've always liked an intertwining pattern and this is what I came up with.  The molding is a modified version of the stock we had custom milled from Foster Planing Mill in southern California.  Since my carving is a work in progress it's also a definite learning process!  A difficult part is the half elliptical feature where one vine crosses over the straight section.  I'm told that when you start to gesso the frame minor imperfections will be concealed.  If you look at the selection of chisels I'm using notice how they bend at the end?  They are referred to as crank neck and spoon bent and they seem to be the best choice for carving on the curves and coves of the frame.  Once the carving is done the gilding process starts and I'm really excited about applying what I was taught during the workshop.  

     That takes care of project number one, the other two are building another pistol case for a replica of a 45 cal. Colt revolver nicknamed the Peacemaker.  That will be my sample case when I go out to promote the pistol cases: www.contemporarypistolcases.com   The other project is to make a small spokeshave from the kit I received as a Christmas present, it's from Lee Valley.  The blank has been laminated already and is a piece of Leopard wood sandwiched between two pieces of Chakte Kok.