Viking Wood Carvers Association
Newsletter June 2003

VIKING Chapter
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Vol. 29 No. 5


PRESIDENT
· Jim Forrey
 (952) 831-2758

VICE PRESIDENTS
· Jim Ayers
 (612) 721-6074
· Myron Asper
 (952) 445-7274

SECRETARY
· Nancy Dardis
· 952-888-3479

TREASURER
· Lew Forsmark
· 952-888-3650

PROGRAM COMMITTEE
· Jim Ayers
· Myron Asper

COFFEE COMMITTEE
· Keith Fredrickson
· Leonard Kampa

SHOW CHAIRMEN
· Carol “Swede” Bengtson
· Merle Erickson
Viking Web Site - http://www.russscott.com/~rscott/vwca/

Meeting for June 9th, 2003 will still be at the VFW Hall in Bloomington, Minnesota. Number one topic of discussion will obviously be to find a new location for our September meeting.

June 9, 2003 Presentation–
"Hand Me Down My Walkin’ Cane” Dr. Walt Mackey is eager to share his style of carving diamond willow staffs, and a unique cane made from a bull’s ....

Meeting Minutes of Viking Woodcarver’s Meeting
May 12, 2003
By Nancy Dardis

President Jim Forrey called the meeting to order.  70 members and visitors were in attendance.  Welcome back to the snowbirds (and those just out for a quick vacation).  It was nice to see so many visitors.  We hope you enjoyed our program and will return to join our club for future gatherings.

Business Report

Treasurer Lew Frosmark updated the Treasurer’s report.  As of May 1 the balance was $4,632.13.  During May, the income was $529.00 and expenses of $1,036.78 (the remainder of the April show bills).  The Treasurer’s report was approved and seconded.

The April meeting minutes as printed in the May newsletter were approved and seconded.

!!! 2003 Membership Dues –
- NO DUES = NO NEWSLETTER!!! -

Okay…so you have gotten a reprieve. Membership dues should have been paid by January 31, 2003.  Our plan was to quit mailing the newsletter to those who have not paid.  Unfortunately, we need this last newsletter to inform you of our change in meeting location (see New Business).  If you have not paid your dues, please send your check for $15.00 to Lew Frosmark, 2730 W 91st St, Bloomington, MN  55431 – Now!  This really is the last newsletter for the ‘unredeemed’ – no kidding this time.

Name Tags
Viking club nametags can be ordered from Lew.  These are $5.00 and must be paid in advance.
Send your check for $5.00 to Lew Frosmark, 2730 W 91st St, Bloomington, MN  55431.

Vendors
· George Effrem (Woodcarvers Store and School)
· John Krantz (Krantz Wood Sales)

Old Business

Share the Wealth – Don’t forget about the opportunity to ‘share the wealth’ with Rochester.  Ken Brown from the Rochester Woodcarver’s Club is interested in sharing presentations.  He has invited members of our club to come to Rochester and do presentations on our special skills in an effort to share the wealth of talent.  There would be some compensation. Contact Jim Ayers for  information.

New Business

!!! Important June Meeting!!!
Be sure to come to the June meeting with ideas for a new location for Viking meetings.  Jim Forrey found out that the VFW is closing June 19th.  We need to select a committee to work over the summer and find us a new location.  Since we do not have the luxury of having a club vote on the location, bring your suggestions to the June meeting and pick the committee members carefully!  The new location will be posted in the September newsletter AND on the Viking web site http://www.russscott.com/~rscott/vwca/
Ah, yes, another good reason to be sure your membership is paid up!

Special Request
Robin Buhler, a fellow member of Vikings, asked for help from the club.  Her daughter, Haley, 7-years-old, is recovering from 14 months of chemotherapy for a brain tumor.  Robin is writing a memory book for her, but has many items that will not fit in the book format.   Robin is looking for someone from the Viking club she could pay to carve a special box (9x12x6) to hold Haley’s keepsakes.  If you are interested, contact Robin at:
Home phone:  651-578-1926 (4PM-8PM)
Home email: buhlerallen@msn.com
Work phone:  952-946-8519 (7AM-3PM)
Work email:  rbuhler@printcafe.com

We cut the meeting short and dashed through Show and Tell and the coffee break to provide our talented presenter with time to inspire.

Frank Brown is a professional sculptor and motivational speaker with a studio at 255 E. Kellogg in St. Paul.  Born with multiple birth defects, he is the youngest of ten children.  He grew up in the harsh realities of the Civil Rights movement in southern Illinois.  Brown learned sculpture at a young age, working first with wax Kool-aid bottles.  He ‘graduated’ to recycling wire hangers as support for clay sculptures, and now does primarily clay and porcelain or bronze pieces.  Brown’s work is ‘social commentary art’.  It imparts information and invokes a response from the viewer – not just art for art’s sake.  If you missed this evening, you missed another fine presentation.

Thanks, Jim Ayers, for providing us with another stellar program!

______________________________

From the Carvers' Companion - Woodcarver Online Magazine
Loren Woodard, editor of Notes From the Net  http://www.carverscompanion.com/
Antiquing
January, 2000 Issue

        There have been a number of discussions concerning antiquing on the internet lately, so I thought that it might be appropriate to start this article with tips on different methods of antiquing. As usual, I urge you to test each of the methods thoroughly before trying them on your finished carvings.
        Sharon stated that she usually antiques with a mixture of oil paint and linseed oil, or a product called Scotty's Patina. She tints her oil with a dab of burnt umber and sometimes adds some burnt or raw sienna to change the color slightly. This is the same method that I use most often when I antique. I would caution you to use very little of the oil paint. I would start out with about a 1" ribbon of oil paint to a quart of Linseed oil and adjust the color from there, testing it on a piece of painted wood. I use an old blender that I purchased at a garage sale to mix my antiquing solution. Works great and costs about $2.00 to $3.00 if I remember correctly.
        Dave Lavoie indicated that the way he learned was to first put acrylic or latex paint on and then spray with a clear finish. He gets his clear finish at Wal-Mart for $.95 a can. He then uses a light wood stain to cover all parts that you want stained and wipes it off immediately to the shade he wants. Then he sprays the whole carving with a matte finish and when it is dry he sprays the cheeks and nose with a gloss finish. Now I don't know if this was the same method that Dave used on his large Santa relief that he had at the North Arkansas Woodcarvers show in Mountain Home, Arkansas this year but that carving was absolutely beautiful.
Jim stated that he paints his carvings with thinned oil paint. When the paint is dry he mixes burnt umber with thinner and applies it all over the carving then wipes the carving down. He wipes more of the solution off where the highlights will be. You can also use raw umber to give a greener tint to the antiquing.
        Duane MacEwen wrote that he antiques his Santa carvings by spraying the entire carving with a clear satin finish, usually applying at least 3 coats to keep the antiquing from bleeding into the acrylic paints. He then uses a burnt umber oil paint for antiquing and actually applies it using a toothbrush or heavy brush to work the burnt umber into every crevice he can get it in. Once that is complete he begins to wipe off the oil paint. The more you wipe, the more comes off, and in that way you can vary the degree of the antiquing that you desire. If you have deep crevices in your carving you can use a clean dry brush to remove some of excess oil paint from the hard to reach areas. He stated that this method does work well and he has had many good comments on the effects!
        Ed Ertel mixes his own antiquing solution from waxes. Ed fills a baby food jar half full with turpentine, then using a paste wax like Butcher's or Johnson's, he uses a table knife to shave wax off the surface of the can of wax, putting the shaved wax in the turpentine until the jar is full. (That gives him an equal volume of wax and turpentine.) He then adds about a one-quarter inch ribbon of burnt umber oil paint (more or less as you like.) Put the cover on the jar, shake it until the wax and paint are dissolved and thoroughly mixed.
He usually seals his carvings with a spray coat of matte Krylon first. When it's dry he brushes on the wax mixture (sparingly) - using a brush with bristles stiff enough to apply into the recesses. When the wax mixture is dry, he buffs with a soft cloth.
        The advantages of this mixture are that it is made from materials many of us have on hand. Therefore, it is inexpensive and it can be made as dark or as light as you wish. .
        Chuck say that after painting with acrylic paints he antiques with Dark Minwax paste finishing wax mixed with mineral spirits to thin the wax. He applies the wax with a flux brush (the type with the hollow metal handle) He then waits a few minutes and wipes the wax off with a soft paper towel. This will protect the paint and antique in one step.
        Thad Hammett uses acrylic paint to paint his carving and then he uses a thinned down acrylic stain to antique them. He wipes off the stain with a cloth and they are antiqued. He suggests using bucket brown. Thad suggest trying it on a trial piece and see what you think. He says that if you leave it on very long it will really antique a carving.
        Gordon Paterson wrote that you can apply brown shoe polish over the finished/sealed paint job. It's an old timers trick to create an antique look. He indicated that if his word was not convincing enough, take a look at Ron Ransom's book, Santa Carving. Sealing the paint job first is important otherwise the shoe polish could/will turn anything painted white to a cream or yellow color.
Vic indicated that if you are using acrylic paints, seal your finished paint job with Krylon 1301 or something similar; mix and apply Jo Sonja Retarder Antiquing Medium with acrylic burnt umber to whatever darkness you want.
        Finally "Woodbutcher" Jan tells us he antiques by using "Umber Juice", which is a mixture of 1 part Varathane (high gloss); 1 part paint thinner (not varasol), and; 1 part double boiled linseed oil. Jan covers the carving (after painting) with 2 coats of Krylon (matte) then he covers the whole carving very liberally in" Umber Juice". Next he paints on oil based burnt umber paint, which turns the carving very dark. He then wipes off the excess with clean soft rag and lets dry for 24 hours because of the linseed oil and sprays on 2 more coats of Krylon matte. As many on the Internet can attest, "Woodbutcher's" finishing techniques are absolutely superb. Actually, Jan's nickname should be "Wood Master" instead of Woodbutcher. :o)

Material from Woodcarver Online Magazine is copyright protected and is reprinted with permission. Visit http://carverscompanion.com for more information.

VIKING MAGNUM OPUS
(SHOW AND TELL) – May, 2003

NAME                 CARVING          WOOD         FINISH         COMMENTS
Charles Rathsack     Cowboy                    Basswood         Acrylics
Ray Delong               Walnut Wall Piece  Walnut               None
Nancy Dardis            Wood Burning         Basswood          Water Color
                                    Polar Bear                                         Wax
Fred Stenman            Wood Burning         Basswood
                                   Wood Burning          Myrtle
Elaine Stenman          Log Cabin Relief    Basswood                                     Mountain Scene
                                   Russian Face           Poplar                                           Gift
                                   Wood Spirit              Red Cedar                                   From Rex Branson
Clarence Moe            2 Clowns in Cars     Basswood          None                  For Snow Daze Classes
Norm Busta               Wood Burning          Other Wood      Acrylics
                                    Eagles on Willows                              Polyurethane
Ken Waldhauser        Moose                      Butternut          Acrylics              Unfinished
Stan Wenker              Cardinal                   Basswood          Acrylics  Polyurethane
Ray Gritche               Golfer                       Basswood          Acrylics
Duane Heng               2 Vases                    Basswood          Acrylics Polyurethane
Paul Thompson          Harley Rafsal Figs.  Basswood          Acrylics
Leo Mielke                Buzzard                     Basswood          Acrylics, Wax    Pattern from “Carving
                                                                                                                            Characters”, by Jim Maxwell
James Bastyrd           Turtle                        Tupelo               Acrylics,             Unfinis. Shell has to be painted.
Duane Edwards          Elf                             Basswood          Acrylics              Chris Thompson Class
Bill Larson                  Big Horn Ram         Basswood          Oil                       Christmas Present to son.
                                                                                                                             Took Ram from Colorado
Alice Larson               Sailor                        Basswood           Acrylics
Gen Jansen                “Calling Loon”         Basswood           Acrylics, Wax     Larry Longtines Class
                                                                                                                              in Winnipeg
Russell Scott              Indian Man/Woman Catalpa               Wax                    Jeff Phares - Man
                                    Relief in log                                                                      Ivan Willock - Woman

VENDORS

Woodcarvers Store and School
3056 Excelsior Blvd., Minneapolis, MN  55416-0127 (612) 927-7491 (www.woodcarversstore.com)

Jim Abicht, Fine woodworking
Specializing in bases for carving projects  (651) 451-7217

Ivan Whillock Studio
122 NE 1st Avenue, Faribault, MN 55021  (507) 334-8306 (www.whillock.com)

 Krantz Wood Sales - Carving & Specialty Woods
 16748 Stanford St., Forest Lake, MN  55025  (651) 464-5632 (Evenings)

David Lindroth, Custom Cut Woods for Woodcarvers & Artists
8150 – 137th St. W.  Apple Valley, Mn  55124  (952) 432-7066

Nelson-Johnson Wood Products, Inc.
3910 Bryant Ave No., Mpls., MN  55412    (612) 529-2978 - cell phone (612) 644-4567

Chris Thompson, Carver and Instructor, (651) 457-4130

Gen Jansen, Carver and Instructor, (320) 252-3966

Bob Masse “Ruff-Cuts”
4930 Whitcomb Dr, Madison, WI  53711  (608) 271-2883

Brad Oren Sculpture Supply
Complete source for stone, wood, clay, abrasives & tools.

Rockler Stores:
Maplewood, MN  (651) 773-5285; Minneapolis, MN  (612) 822-3338;
Burnsville, MN  (952) 892-7999; Minnetonka, MN (952) 542-0111

Woodcraft Supply
9741 Lyndale Ave S, Bloomington, MN  (952) 884-3634

Gregg McCabe, Stubai tool distributor
425 Madison St NE, Minneapolis, MN (612) 379-9342

Garry N. Kolb - Woodcarving Supplies
2528 24 Ave NW, Rochester, Mn. 55901 (507) 289-9138

Copperhead Road Logging and Lumber
Joe Jewett – 54852 Great River Rd. Palisade, Mn. 56469 (218) 845-2832
___________________________________________________________________________

Wood Carving Shows During the Summer
International Woodcarvers Congress, June 19-22, 2003, Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, 2815 W. Locust St., Davenport, Iowa. Contact Carol Yudis at 563-359-9684, or 2724 State St., Bettendort IA 52722.

Blackduck Wood Carvers Festival, July 26, 2003, Wayside Park, Blackduck, Minnesota. Contact Jim Schram at 218-835-4669 or Robin Stromberg at 218-835-4949.

Lake Bronson 19th Annual International Woodcarvers Festival, August 2-3, 2003, Lake Bronson State Park, Lake Bronson Contact Woodcarvers Show at 218-754-2200 or P.O. Box 9, Lake Bronson, MN 56734 or lbsp@wiktel.com.

Blue Earth 20th Annual Upper Midwest Wood Carvers and Quilt Expo, August 15-17, 2003, Blue Earth Area High School, Blue Earth, Minnesota.  Contact Blue Earth Chamber of Commerce at 507-526-2916 or 118 East 6th St., Blue Earth, MN 56013; e-mail Chamber@bevcomm.net.

Have a great summer

Please come to the June/club meeting to discuss the location where the Vikings Wood Carvers members will meet in September. It would be wonderful if we could find a location that would allow us to teach wood carving classes, hold group carving sessions and possible store a library of carving books and tapes. I would think a school, recreation center or something like that would be ideal. Any ideas about what's available in Bloomington or Richfield? Ask your friends, colleagues or neighbors for suggestions to bring to the June meeting. The new location will be announced in the September newsletter.