Tag Archives: carving

Rock Bottom

14 Jun

Last week I hit rock bottom as far as my golfing ability or rather inability is concerned. I have no words to describe. It didn’t even rain and the new Nike shoes which were supposed to help didn’t at all. In fact, it hurt more than helped.

The socks were too thick and caused the feet to hurt, and I couldn’t focus. And then my eyes hurt and I couldn’t focus. My shoulders were so stiff and I couldn’t swing properly. In short, everything did not work out during that game. The only consolation was a few tricky long putts that went in. I know there shouldn’t be any excuses but there were plenty.

Sigh… I can only hope with this rock bottom achievement I should move upwards next because there’s no more room to bottom out even further. If it does at this point, I may just give up golf because there’s no joy in this activity anymore. And carving is looking more appealing because there’s so much more joy to create, see my end results and feel the love when I give them away. There’s no love for the frustration of playing terrible golf.

Will I survive this moment of self-doubt and lack of conviction for the game?

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A Sudden Burst

8 Jun

I have forgotten what it is like to carve balsa having worked on Meranti so much last month. Last night I pushed myself to go back to my Citizens on balsa instead of Meranti Gnomes. And my goodness! It’s so effortless.

So much so, the sudden burst resulted in four new Citizens – one in the morning before going to work and three in the evening after dinner. Yay. Maybe I should stop the Gnomes series for the time being and just focus on Citizens of Gigglesville. After all, their population count remained stagnant at 132 since Apr 24th.

Honestly, working with Meranti wood has aggravated the tennis elbow again. Not a good sign especially if I want to go back to playing golf. I shouldn’t allow this to flare up and if I want to also continue carving I should stick to balsa, a much softer wood. This may be the best balance to have the best of both activities.

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Unfinished and ugly for now but that’s the process

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Identity Crisis

7 Jun

Now that my Gandalf-looking Gnome is painted up, I feel it has an identity crisis! When it was all white with the gesso base, it looked like Gandalf. Now with the lavender shade, it’s looking more like a Wizard.

I was at a crossroad on the color choice. Believe me, it wasn’t easy and I even debated with M2 and hubby on the matter. In the end, I picked lavender.

While it’s a gnome and lives in Gnomie-wood, I felt it shouldn’t don the red cap and blue outfit because it’s of a different shape from the rest. And if it’s all red, it may end up looking like Santa. God forbid if it’s all green, it will look like a leprechaun!

The signature feature of my gnome series with the cone cap covering the face and eyes, and just the nose sticking out maintains the gnome allure despite the color difference.

I guess a variation is good for the gnomes of Gnomie-wood, just like the Citizens of Gigglesville with the many different species either still living in Gigglesville or have migrated to spread love and giggles.

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Gandalf?

4 Jun

Appalled at the realization that the month of May yielded so little carvings, I stayed away from reading the news and carved up a storm two nights before the weekend came about. And thank goodness for the light breeze of both evenings, it was the perfect setting to start on a new piece. I worked on it like a person possessed.

Within two nights, Gnome #12 came around. This time, this fella is really different from the rest. Extremely different in fact. By the end of the weekend, my new carving looks more like a Gandalf than a Gnome of Gnomie-wood! Hahaha… what have I created?

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Big debate on what color should this fella be. Any suggestions?

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Moving Slowly, Part 2

1 Jun

Gnome #11 of Gnomie-wood took almost two weeks to complete. Firstly, it’s a big fella, secondly all that time when I should be working on it was diverted to reading the news instead. Oh well, better to move slowly than not at all.

At seven and three quarters inch, Gnome #11 is by far the tallest now, surpassing Gnome #9 by 3/4 of an inch.

I hope to complete Gnome #11 by the weekend (adding the gloss varnish) and most likely push myself to start on another piece.

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The process of carving a Gnome

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With a gloss still to add on, Gnome #11 is almost done!

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Moving Slowly

31 May

Lately the carving stalled because I got side-tracked keeping up with the news on the elections every single night. Citizens of Gigglesville is stagnant at a population count of 132 as of April 24th and the last three citizens, born in April were not even painted up. And since then, there’s no new Citizen. Zilch. Nada.

Sure there were some whales, Apeach, Giant Gnomes and Monuments but that’s about it. Not a single new Citizen this whole month of May. Sigh…

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Bigger and Bigger, Part 2

21 May

The carving seems to have taken a toll on me. Lately with all these bigger pieces that I am working on with Meranti wood which is harder than balsa, I could feel a slight pain especially on the right elbow when I exert some strength. The tennis elbow problem! And this is evident when I try to play golf. Sigh…

When an injury hits, one never truly recovers. The body is weakened, the game suffers and the confidence drops, a vicious cycle. Add in the lack of playing because of my other problems (the Infectious Colitis and the laparoscopic surgery recently), I simply have not had much opportunity to go onto the fairways.

I need to find the right balance to carve and play golf without one activity suffering at the expense of the other.

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Bigger and Bigger

18 May

It looks like the flavor of the month has changed. In April, I was carving up Gnomes, this May it’s Monuments that I am doing. And they are getting bigger in size too.

Excited with the result of the 3-Citizen Meranti Monument without a platform, I went on to carve another Meranti piece but with four Citizens. And in between painting it up, I started an even bigger 3-Citizen piece. Soon the house will be full of Monuments!

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The latest and biggest Monument

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Comparing the height of all the Monuments

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Ten Little Gnomes

7 May

The Gnomes of Gnomie-wood are taking over my life! Citizens of Gigglesville took a back seat last month as I found myself carving up Gnomes instead. With so much Meranti wood at my disposal, I was glueing pieces to make big blocks to carve into giant Gnomes.

And each one gets bigger than the previous. With the latest Gnome 10, standing at 5.5 inches tall, I now have 10 Gnomes in Gnomie-wood! But Gnome 10 is not the tallest; it comes in second. Gnome 9, a two-piece Meranti stands the tallest at 7 inches, while Gnome 2, carved from balsa, is the smallest and shortest among the lot at 43mm tall.

It’s been so addictive and fun. More Gnomes to come is all I can say!

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Family group shot

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Gnome 10 before the paint job

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The beginning of Gnome 10

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More Wood

4 May

Aunty Dearest has given me another five boxes of wood last weekend. So much wood, so little time. And I had to sieve through the supply to ensure the pieces are actually good to be carved. I say this because recently I carved a Big Citizen on a block that has a knot within the wood grains. I didn’t think it would pose a tough challenge but it did.

I should have been more careful in the first place when selecting and glueing the pieces together to make the big block. The imperfection was super hard and came out in a chunk, leaving a big gap in my poor Citizen’s shape. I think it will take me awhile to get this piece done up properly.

Meanwhile the five boxes were vetted as pieces that were uneven, cracked and have knots had to be thrown away. In a way it was painful to throw away all the wood but it had to be done for the good of the Citizens of Gigglesville.

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