Near Capacity

attendance was achieved for the 1999 Woodcarvers Retreat with 65 people including instructors This was the third year we have held the RETREAT and we are still evolving and growing in size with an all volunteer instructor and organizational staff. Once again it was held at the 2200-acre woodland and ponds of the Alton B. Jones Annex of the University of Rhode Island, conveniently located a few miles off I-95 at exit 5 in RI. The Retreat ran from Friday night at 5:30pm through Monday at 5:00pm; 8, 9 ,10, and 11 October 1999 which was Columbus Day weekend.

We expanded the number of formal classes from four in 1998 to eight in 1999 as well as retained the option for people to attend and work on their own projects. Our format for classes is to have one subject for Saturday and Sunday and then have students switch instructors on Monday for a different one day class.

Instructors in 1999 and their Sat/Sun classes were:

Pete LeClair (Caricature Carvers of America) carving a full figure “ Mechanic”, a comical caricature person,

Rip Stangroom (New England Wood Carvers Club) carving a full figure “County Worker” person in flat plane style,

Peter Benson, (Chairman of the British Woodcarvers Association) carving in relief,

Jim O'Dea (Mystic Carvers Club) carving assorted projects for novices,

Anslie Pyne from Brisbane Austraila carving a Koola Bear in the round,

Jim Roediger (Mystic Carvers Club) carving a Chickadee songbird,

Bob Sinclair (New England Wood Carvers Club) carving a full figure “Fisherman”,

This year we tried a new form of team-workshop, combining power carving with mallet and chisel carving to sculpt a 6 foot tall bear as a common project. This project was worked on by not only the formal workshop participants but also other Retreat attendees that wanted to try their hand at “big” power carving. We started with a 8 foot long by 30 inch in diameter Eastern White Pine “blank” donated by Oliver Cote and Norm Slatter of the "Shack Out Back" studio in Scotland, CT. These two started the carving project by roughing out with a chain saw, next ArborTech representative Lois Henry from Durham, NC demonstrated and coached the workshop participants in refining the shape, texturing the fur and most of the detailing with the ArborTech line of power tools. As a final touch, the team used mallet and chisel tools to provide eyes, nose and claw details. See the progress and results below:

Ray Johnson (Mystic Carvers Club) carving a large “Bear”.

We thank the Arbortech Corporation for being the corporate sponsor of this workshop, providing a representative to demonstrate and coach the project along, and for donating the plaque attached to the bear as well as door prizes. Lois Henry of North Carolina was extremely helpfully and we appreciate her guidance and assistance in making this a very successful workshop. All the attendees in this workshop learned something new, improved there skills or for those never attempting this size carving before, gained the confidence to try one on their own.

All instructors volunteer their time for this event. Insructors pictured below:

Check in started at 5:30 pm on Friday 8 October 1999. We had a self-serve evening meal (Lasanqua and salad) available starting at 6 P.M. Friday night. At 7 P.M. we introduced the RETREAT organizers and instructors, and asked everyone to introduce themselves and express their carving interests. At 8pm Lois Henry gave a talk about the ArborTech tools that would be used on the bear workshop and invited all attendee’s to try there hand at using them when ever they could break away from their main classes. At 8:30 P.M. Peter Benson gave a very interesting informal lecture/question answer period on woodcarving in the UK, highlighting the major differences with woodcarving as practiced in the US and how it is beginning to take a new direction.

A table was set up for show and tell carvings, which resulted in over 25 carvings being displayed. We handed out basswood eggs to those wanting to participate in an egg carving competition, with the final product due back for judging on Sunday night.

Saturday and Sunday nights were open for impromptu classes. This year classes included:

Ed Cattey teaching a knife making workshop.

The only cost for these evening classes was the purchase of a blank. Playing cards and board games were available and several groups of carvers availed themselves of the opportunity to socialize and play in the evenings. <

On Sunday night we had a wood identification contest. The contest resulted in a tie for first place with 8 out of 21 wood samples correctly identified. Below is pictured the prizes given for the various contests and as door prizes.

On Monday students switched instructors and attended a different demonstration/carve along with:
Pete LeClair carving “Elmer”, a caricature head
Rip Stangroom, basic Human Face, bottle stopper size
Peter Benson gave a talk on miniatures and Netsuke
Jim O’Dea carving a Santa ornament

This facility is a 2200 acre woodland and ponds at the Alton B. Jones Annex of the University of Rhode Island, conveniently located a few miles off I-95 at exit 5 in RI. The Dinning Room and Classrooms were located in the main lodge pictured below.

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