ST. CHARLES AREA WOODCARVERS

    March 2008  

 

Club News

       

 Meeting Location - 7295 94 South

Weldon Spring Department of Energy site.  From highway 40/61 or I-70 exit highway 94 and continue south toward Defiance.  It is just past the Francis Howell High School.  When you see a Quonset hut on the right hand side it is the next driveway / facility.   

 

Club News

The club is now meeting twice a month - the first and third Wednesdays at 7pm!   The "rent fee" has also been rolled back to $1/meeting.  It is time to pay your dues for 2008; $15.  Contact the Membership Chairman, Charles Sapp, or Treasurer Bob Craven.                                                                                                                                                             

On Feb 23, the club participated in the ARTS HAPPENING at the St. Peters City Hall that was sponsored by the St. Charles County Arts Council.  Over 50 children from ages 5-12 visited our soap carving station and did hands-on carving.  Thanks to Wilbert Brewton, Charles Sapp, Bob Berg, Bill Kuhn, and Wyatt Sample for their contribution of time and enthusiasm in working with the children.

 

Prior to the start of the event club members traced patterns on several bars of soap. Wyatt works with one of his students. Wilbert and Bill coach several new carvers.  Bob Berg coaches a father-daughter team of carvers.
       

Wyatt made up a dinosaur pattern for these young men. Wilbert set up his work bench and demonstrated spirit carving during the show.  He also donated carvings to one of the staff and to a women's shelter.  Our carving station was very busy all during the event. Bill provides some one on one instruction.  This young lady was a good carver and finished with a very nice piece.

The Arts Council sent the club a letter of thanks and a certificate for our participation.  The Arts Council received numerous comments from parents that were impressed with the quality of the show and the projects.  A copy of the letter and certificate are shown below.  Great job!  It was great to work with the Arts Council, let them know that we appreciate the advertising that they do for our club, to work with the kids, and to get the club name out to others.  Each carver went home with a sheet of instructions, patterns, and information on the club. 

                      

A representative of Eastern Missouri Girl Scouts was at the show and has asked the club to participate in a Girl Scout event this summer.  The Taste of World Friendship lasts for four days and approximately 500 different kids come out per day with their summer camp leaders from all over the metropolitan area ages 5-17.  We are talking to other clubs in the area to see if the wood carvers can support the four day event.  Let me know if you would like to be a part of that team.  It will be in late June 2008 at Tower Grove Park.

    The Arts Happening also had Micah Edge, an art teacher and stone sculptor at the event.  Micah is shown below along with some of his work.  He carves in all types of stone and displayed some fantastic carvings.  

 

Renaissance St. Louis, Inc., astronomy and dulcimer clubs also participated in the show  All that plus entertainment by the St. Charles County Youth Orchestra made for a very exciting day.  For additional information visit the St. Charles County Arts Council's web site at www.stcharlesart.org. 

 

SCAWC - Feature Carver: Syl Bax 

My name is Syl Bax.  I was born and raised on a farm in Central Missouri.

In my youth, I liked to go to my family’s farm shop and create items using wood and metal. Some of the items would include: bird houses, wind mills, and simple toys.  With all this practice growing up, it led to me to the profession of carpentry.  I have been a union carpenter since 1958 doing residential construction.  During the last years of work, I owned my own business as a carpenter contractor.

I always thought the day I retired I would start carving, but it took a few years.  I started out by teaching myself simple carvings and soon found out that taking classes would be a better way to learn.  The more lessons I take, the more I learn about different carving techniques.  Painting my carvings is an area that I aspire to learn more about.

Over the years, I have enjoyed bass and crappie fishing and have been in many tournaments.  Being a fisherman has helped inspire me in my woodworking projects as well.  My fishing and hunting experiences are my inspirations for carving such items as fish, birds, and nature scenes.

If you don’t find me carving and painting, you can catch me playing golf and taking an active part in my parish church.  When the weather is nice, I play golf in a league.  I also take part in being a member of the Men’s Club at my church.  We host many activities for the members and community. 

I look forward to more classes in carving and learning to paint my pieces.  I enjoy being with the carving group, sharing our carving sessions together and getting to show my projects.


                        

Seminars

           Corky Breece, Seminar Chairman

*  John Engler held a relief carving seminar on Feb 15, 16, and 17th, 2008.  Thirteen carvers participated in the class.

*  Club member, Jim Leifeld, lead a trout painting seminar on March 1.  Jim demonstrated and instructed on all aspects of painting-from mixing the colors, to applying multiple layers of the thin wash to build up depth, to dry brushing and blending the multiple colors on the rainbow trout.  All painting was done by hand for the class.  Over the course of the day the project came together and the trout was completed. Thanks, Jim, we appreciate the training and the time you gave for class prep and working with us.

 

 

For seminars - the doors open in the morning at 8:30am and in the evening at 5:00pm.  Typically classes during the day will be conducted from 9am to 5pm and in the evening from 5:00pm to 9pm.   Ask your instructor for exact times.

 

 

Web Site

Thanks to Wyatt Sample for managing the club web site.  New members - be sure to get with Wyatt and provide him with some pictures of your work and a background write up for the site.  Book mark the new URL: http://www.stcharlesareawoodcarvers.com/ .  

 

Want a paper copy of the news letter?

Paper copies of the news letter will be available provided you pay for the printing and the mailing.  The copies will be printed from the electronic file so the layout will be different than you are use to.  Page breaks will be a fall out of the electronic copy.  A $10 fee will be charged up front and the cost of each issue will be deducted from the account.  Cost for black and white copies will be 15 cents a page plus postage.  Contact the editor if you would like to set up an account. 

 

Dues are Due

It is time to pay your dues for 2008; $15.  Contact the Membership Chairman, Charles Sapp, or Treasurer Bob Craven. 

 

When you have an item for show and tell, please get my attention before you leave (presuming that I remember to bring the camera).

                   

                               

 

Charles W. Sapp

Editor