Club Meeting: 31st March 2021
Report by: Garry Jones

O’dell gave us an explanation of how he got into carving and woodturning.

He mentioned how he found himself through applying his carving techniques and trying new methods of embellishing his works with gilders paste.

He told us how he progresses his work to the finished product in his carvings and that each carving comes with a Korero (story) describing how it came about and what the patterns represent.

He mentioned simplicity, dominance and contrast is how he looks at his carvings and woodturning and said that they should be (less not more) in other words don’t make things too busy.

The 3 tools that O’dell likes to use the most are his Burnmaster, Gilders paste and Interference paint and he stressed that we should all be pushing the barriers and trying new ideas, thinking outside the box so that we are always learning.

O’dell told us that in Maori carving the patterns are a language in that they tell a story to those who understand them.

He talked about the chisels he uses and explained the method and reasons why he sharpens them they way he does and how it suits the way he carves.

O’dell then demonstrated how to do the Unahi pattern (fish scales) and that this pattern represents the coming and going of fish in the tides, but it can also be used in the carving to represent the travels and journeys of a persons life.

After finishing the carving of the pattern he applied a coat of black paint which he brushed on as this was just a small piece, if it was a larger piece he would have used the spray can of paint (Dura Max Semi Gloss), when this had dried he applied the interference paint, also with a brush, different colours (blue, green, purple) into the deeper parts of the carving, the next step was applying the Gilders Paste which he applied with a rolled up rubber glove and just dabbed it onto the surface so that it didn’t go into the deeper parts of the pattern. He said that he would then leave it to dry for approx 2.5 hrs and then finish it off with a few coats of Dura Max Semi Gloss Clear Coat

Thank you O’dell we have all learnt something special tonight