September painting

Here is my September painting.
From left to right: Jan's, Olga's and mine on the right.
Hard to believe we were in the same class huh?

2 sided scrollcut figure

This is what I love to do, compound cutting on the scroll saw.
Two views from one piece of wood. One view is a sailboat and the other view is a dophin.This piece is from butternut wood.



This is one piece also as you can see by the view on the right.
It is a ballerina in one view and when you turn it, it is a swan.
And yes...it is extremely difficult to do and only someone that has mastered the scroll saw would be able to do it. This one is made from basswood.

Carving - 8 pointed star

This is the current project for my students. Each star is made from a block of wood. A cube of whatever size you wish. the largest one I intend to do some wood burning on. I just haven't decided the pattern yet. The pinkish one is plastic that car modelers used years ago. The one on the right, greyish, is soapstone. The rest are basswood. All are done with a basic carving knife.

September painting quiz

Here is my painting for September. Now for the quiz part.
Which one is mine and which is the teachers?
Which do you prefer?
Tomorrow I will post mine as well as the ones from my friends.

#2 Pet Peeve

Some people don't know when to shut up. You know those type...the ones who go on and on and on. They definitely do not know how to carry on a conversation.

Information is nice as well as long interesting stories. But stories that lead into more stories and information that never ends are boring. These people barely pause or take a breath. I do wonder how some even breathe because they can go on at length and never seem to run out of air. They never seem to let people respond and go on for so long, that if a point was being made or information was asked to be imparted, it was long forgotten what it was in the first place.

I myself have been accused of leaving people hanging. Personally I would rather people ask me to elaborate more on a topic rather than bore them to death. I do not intentionally....well... not often anyway except when I am playing with someone, leave people hanging.

And this often leads into a companion pet peeve...people who do not stay on topic. Their conversation runs all over the place and make you wonder what they were talking about in the first place. Some are what I liken to a Stephen King novel. They take 500 words to say what can be said in oh say, very efficiently, about 75. And yes...I think King is too wordy.

I will admit to a bad habit I have that stems mostly from being in a conversation with these types of people....that of interrupting. Yes..I have let myself do it with others that don't deserve it. I am the impatient sort anyway and when I have something to say, I don't want to have to wait to add my two cents worth. I just bust in with it. Nasty habit which I am working on.

Enough muttering Twinsy?

#1 Pet Peeve

The thing that bugs me the most is when someone tells me how to do something differently than how I am doing it and go on and on about how I am doing it wrong, or could do it easier, better or faster.

At first, well...most times I will politely listen to their suggestions and more likely than not, go on doing it my way.

Hey people, and you know who you are, if you want it done your way..then do it yourself. If you want me to do it...leave me alone and let me do it my own way.

I know that you mean well and just want to make it easier, but if I am happy as a pig in a mud waller doing it my way...what harm is it? HUH HUH?

It is not that I am closed minded or opposed to change, but 9 times out of ten, I have tried other ways and they took too much time for me to learn or I just plain liked the way I was doing it. There is that one time in ten that I will change.

At least have the common courtesy of backing off after making a suggestion. Don't take it personally if I decide to just go my merry way and do it back assward. As long as it gets done and it is my time.....be glad you are not doing it.

Ayup, I am stubborn and I do like to plug along to the beat of my own drummer.
If you don't like it....don't watch! Come back when I am done and praise me all the more for doing it the hard way. LOL