New Studio Nearly Ready

I have nearly completed the move from the back of the house to the front. New tile had to be laid and some other modifications to make the room ready for carving as well as visitors to the studio. I am very much looking forward to completion so I can again satisfy my creative needs.

Appreciation Proclamation from Vermillion SD

The City Council of Vermillion South Dakota mailed an official Proclamation of Appreciation thanking me for the carved ostrich egg shell I gave to the city to commemorate their sesquicentennial celebration. What a great thing they did. I will proudly display this document. Thank you Mayor Christopherson and the City of Vermillion.

New Eggs Carved While Daughter was Visiting

While my younger daughter was visiting this past week she chose to try her hand at carving an emu egg shell. This is her first effort. Also of note, I showed her which burs to use and she went from there on her own. She used a broken egg to practice on before attempting this project. The design is her own, The goose egg is also her work.

Another link to See Vermillion Carved Egg Shell

I found a place where I can, in a round about way, link photos to the article that Was printed in the Vermillion Plain Talk News Paper. There were no photos uploaded with the printed article so I thought I would help those who were not able to see the photos of the egg.

The link is in the Title of this link.

Carved Egg Gift Makes Vermillion Plain Talk Newspaper

I just read the article that came out in the Vermillion South Dakota News Paper (Plain Talk) They did a great job covering the carved eggshell I gave the city for their sesquicentennial celebration recently Click on the title of this post to follow a link to the Plain Talk to read what was written.

Thank you, David for your efforts.

Carved Egg Noteworthy in Yankton SD Paper

The Press & Dakotan newspaper ran numerous articles about the sesquicentennial festivities in Vermillion SD. In the article entitled Vermillion at 150: It's Time to Party the editors were kind enough to write about my presentation. If you click on the link attached to the title you will be directed to the article.

Thank you again Mayor Christopherson, Cleo Erickson and the City of Vermillion for allowing me to participate in your celebration.

Goose egg carved in Relief

Here is my first attempt at carving a relief image on a goose egg shell. Obviously the images done in this fashion will be a very shallow relief. This is an African Violet plant very much stylized to take advantage of my love for piercing the shell.

A close-up is below to allow the relief to be seen a little easier.

View to an egg continued

In no particular order, because no single portion is more important than another, I will describe why each image was chosen. To begin this description I will explain why the lattice is used to connect the circled images and also why the acanthus leaves grace the bottom of the design.

The emu egg I carved last year which went to the Forbes Art Gallery in New York City was a lattice and acanthus design done in the style of Faberge eggs. This was the first piece I carved which was chosen for public display. I integrated that same idea as my personal contribution to the overall design.

This first image is to commemorate the first residents of this region. A stylized Native American motif using the state animal which is the coyote. I feel all peoples had influence on what Vermillion is today and I want to acknowledge the diversity of our country to which South Dakota owes allegiance.

Second is a representation of the university which functions in Vermillion. This is the only university in South Dakota to offer a degree in Fine Art. Also, the offer degrees in medicine and law which no other South Dakota school offers. My affinity is of course to the arts.

This building is the first city hall. I wanted to record history in this work as it is important to the festivities this gift is meant to celebrate. During this 150th year of the city a new city hall was dedicated. Since the people have this new building in their lives every day I chose to put the historical city hall in the design to bring both the old and the new together.

This last image is of the state flower which is the Pasque. This is here simply because I wanted another image to represent the state that wasn't Mount Rushmore. That image has been done to death. I also like the way flowers look when carved in relief on the ostrich egg shells.

Preview to an Egg

Here it is, or at least part of it. The sesquicentennial celebration egg for Vermillion South Dakota. This is the top view of the egg. This should be self explanatory. The remaining views I will describe as I post them. The people of Vermillion have been wonderful and very welcoming. I am thrilled to have been part of the festivities.

Carved Ostrich Egg arrives in Vermillion SD

First stop the Austin Whittemore House. An historic site where my contact is working. The are many antique items contained in the house. From here I am off to the newly built and recently dedicated city hall to meet the mayor. I will present the egg during one of the tours that will be held today.

Egg to go to Vermillion, South Dakota on 6 August

Tomorrow I leave to participate in the festivities to celebrate Vermillion's 150th anniversary. I will be presenting a carved ostrich egg to the city on the 6th. I feel very privileged to be able to participate in such an important occasion. Photos will follow after the presentation.

One Last Shot from Previous Philippines Trip

This as a small specimen of this spider. The tree in which it lived was filled with spiders like this one. This shot was taken in the lowest branches of the tree about 6 feet above the ground. In the canopy of the tree large members of this species could be seen in their webs while I was standing on the ground. I estimate the tree was 50+ feet tall. I asked some locals about this kind of spider and I was told the can eat birds. I certainly would not climb this kind of tree because each one of these trees contains hundreds of these spiders. This one spanned close to 3 inches from leg tip to leg tip.

Some More Photos from the Philippines

These photos were shot in the mountains near Manila Philippines. It was well after sunset and I wanted to see how it would work out shooting at night. I feel that some of the images were quite dramatic. Here they are for others to enjoy. Hiding them in my computer doesn't really do anyone much good, so I have chosen to use this site as a place to share them with the world.

Photos from the Philippines

While vacationing in the Philippines I came across this butterfly. It had just emerged from its chrysalis which it was still hanging onto while its wings were drying. Less than 10 minutes lter it was gone to lead its new life. Very Cool!

Central Park in November

I was looking through some photos I had but on bulk storage and found this one again. I was in New York City in November of 2008. I was thinking then "How can anyone go to New York City and not go to Central Park?" There I discovered this pond where people sail remote control boats. With the fall colors and 5th Avenue in the background I could not keep from clicking off a few shots. I thought I would share this one with the world. While there I had to eat a dirty water dog as well. How could I not?

A Child's Simple Fascination With Life

My grandson discovered the small crabs that live under the rocks in Puget Sound, Washington. Watching him as he interacted with the small life forms of the beach was a highlight I not soon forget. after I put the first crab in his hand he must have picked up and checked out 20 to 30 more of them. I was amazed at how careful he was to keep from hurting them. He did want to take some but home but his mother had to explain why that wasn't a good idea and what would happen to the crabs if he tried. after that he was perfectly content to just play with them on the beach.

The Daughters Carving their Eggs

The top photo shows both girls and their new necklaces. The foundation of each necklace is a button quail eggshell. They created the egg art themselves using a kit we purchased at the International Egg Art Guild gathering held in Washington. The second photo is my younger daughter and the last photo is the older daughter. They are carving the parakeet egg shells you see in the previous post.

Carved Egg Shells created by My Daughters

These photos show some projects that were completed this past weekend by some very special students I have begun to teach. The reason I give them the "special" status is two-fold. The first reason being they show an innate ability to carve egg shells. They also have no fear in taking on projects that are far beyond a beginning level. The second reason they are special is that they are my daughters. I am elated that they have shown an interest in my art. Now I can pass my knowledge to others and I can only hope they will take what I teach them and advance it to realms hereto unknown. I will post some more photos later which show them during the carving process. WELL DONE GIRLS!!!!

Trip to Seattle Washington

I Arrived Yesterday (the 9th of July 2009) to check out the International Egg Art Guild Show eing held this weekend. I went for a walk down the coast in Puget Sound after getting settled in because the weather was so nice and I had the time. The park which I visited was about 5 minutes from where I was staying with my daughter, Jennifer. Here are a couple of photos I was lucky enough to shoot of a Blue Heron that flew by low over the water. It paused for just a moment on top of a piling which explains the odd shots of the bird.

Vermillion South Dakota Sesquicentennial Celebration

Work continues on this project. Because of my family ties to this city I want to do all I can to present a piece the city will be proud to show. The carved ostrich eggshell for this celebration will be presented in the early part of August. Perhaps I will give a sneak preview of the egg in the next little while.