During the first 2 weekends in April, 2006, Heritage Arts Studio was proud to host nationally renowned woodcarver, sculptor, and nifty flint napper, Terry Kramer, to our studio in North Plains, Oregon. Many have probably read or own a copy of his “Carving the Realistic Native American Face”. Well, the book was great, but Terry, in person, is much better!
He arrived, one afternoon before the first day of the class, with his Subaru Outback over stuffed, floor to ceiling, front to back, with an amazing collection of strange objects like plaster casts of human skulls, chunks of cottonwood bark, 25 lb. blocks of terracotta pottery clay, a huge construction that looked like a plywood robot from a B grade sci-fi movie, clay modeling tools, wooden armatures, and more.
Terry is an amazing artist and a crazy optimistic kind of guy. His teaching style is fast paced (the class covered a lot of ground in only 4 days), but flexible enough to fit the needs of the individual students. I don’t believe he has ever been accused of being to serious, but he gets to the point, with examples, hands on carving demonstration, and theory.
Attending the course was Kathleen Brunson, Ray Tenorro, Teresa Verboort, John Krieg, Barb Krieg, Jim Krieg, Janet Clemens, and Ernie Calendar (with his lovely wife Leslie, all the way from Boise, Idaho). The class days were long (9:00am to 5:00pm) and lunches were usually walk-out affairs, to our local Mexican restaurant and our sandwich shop (the finest dining that North Plains has to offer!).
The first 2 days were spent working in clay, and learning the anatomy of the human face. The plywood robot turned out to be a shadow box, complete with 6 lights at different angles, a rotary selector switch, and a variable light intensity control. Various sculptures were placed in the shadow box, and everyone observed the effects of lighting. The results were astounding: every different light angle produced a uniquely different face, from the same carving! Small errors in symmetry or shape became glaringly obvious (and therefore easier to detect and correct). Students worked at 2 to a table, with goose neck lamps that could be positioned at varying angles to produce different lighting and
shadow effects. Turning off the overhead fluorescents made the shadows even more dramatic. Imagine a room full of people with sharp tools, carving in the dark!
Table 1 The Effects of Lighting and Shadow on Terry Kramer
The second 2 days were spent carving the previously clay modeled head busts into cottonwood bark (which Terry provided from his personal stash). Several interesting problems occurred and work-arounds were provided. One student carved the overall face shape, and was working on the brow to nose transition area when the discovered a huge cavity in the bark, apparently excavated by a hungry bug, sometime in the past. Crumbling cottonwood bark chips were pulverized and mixed with white glue to form bark putty, that after filling and drying, produced an easily carved, invisible patch. Another student wanted his Native American face to be wearing a wolf headdress. The problem was that the bark he was carving was not thick enough to accommodate the wolf’s snout. Another section of bark was cut from a smaller piece, both pieces were sanded on a bench sander (out in our woodworking shop), and then joined together (using white glue). The resulting glue line was invisible after being carved, and the wolf had a muzzle, complete with a mouth full of sharp wolfy teeth.
|
|
Terry instructing the class on how to shape and mod the clay, with hands. Later, they move to tools and actually “carve” the clay. |
|
|
Kathleen and Barbara working with clay. Kathleen’s husband, Craig, reproduced Terry’s shadow box design, with a few embellishments, and donated one to the studio for our students to use (Kathleen has the other one at home for her personal use). Many thanks, Craig! |
|
|
Janet Clemens “in the dark” working with a lamp to provide harsh shadows. Shadows are the key to a good carving. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Janet Clemens working on the clay bust that she will eventually carve in cottonwood bark. |
One of many outstanding carvings which were made possible by 1st modeling them in clay. |
Wolf headdress with snout added (glued). Notice the sharp wolfy teeth! |
Teresa Verboort perfecting her clay model. |
|
|
|
|
From back left to right: Terry Kramer, Ray Tenorro, Jim Krieg, John Krieg From front left to right: Janet Clemens, Teresa Verboort, Barbara Krieg, Ernie Calender Kneeling: Kathleen Brunson |
|
|
|
|
Finished carvings are ALL excellent: they are not all the same, but they are all from the same tribe. |
|
|
|
|
|
