Читать книгу Joy of Chip Carving - Wayne Barton - Страница 7

This book represents the sharing of one man’s ongoing insights and lifetime study of the unique art of chip carving.

Wayne Barton is the most renowned proponent of this style of woodcarving in the world. He has been honored by the Swiss National Museum in Zurich, which put his work on special exhibition for eighteen months. In 2005 Fox Chapel Publishing named him Woodcarver of the Year. His classes, lectures, and writings for decades have taught countless others like you the proper tools and methods used to accomplish superb chip carvings such as those displayed within these pages. With few exceptions, most individuals in North America who are passing on chip carving knowledge were introduced to the art by Wayne and/or his classes and writings. However, it remains true today that none have reached Wayne’s level in either range or depth of execution, techniques, and artistic design, nor equaled his remarkable ability to describe and instruct others in chip carving.

Singlehandedly, Wayne Barton has been the driving force behind the recognition and renaissance that chip carving has enjoyed both here and abroad. Owing to his inspired example, chip carving is today commonplace in nearly all woodcarving shows, to the point of comprising a distinct category in most competitions.

Introduced to woodcarving at the age of five by his Norwegian grandfather, Wayne has had a love for the art and for the process of carving ever since. With a serious desire to increase his knowledge, he went to Brienz, Switzerland studying all forms of woodcarving under the tutelage of some of the masters still actively carving and teaching there. Upon his return to the United States, he taught at the Chicago School of Woodcarving before establishing the Alpine School of Woodcarving, Ltd. with chip carving as a specialty. Although he was awarded first place in every competition he entered, his focus has always been on teaching and sharing his knowledge with others. Additionally, he has spotlighted the talents and accomplishments of chip carving students from around the globe for the past thirty-five years in his bimonthly column in Chip Chats, the National Woodcarvers Magazine.

Long before anyone else, Wayne recognized the need for superior chip carving tools. As a result, he developed the Wayne Barton Premier Chip Carving Knives, which are now in common use worldwide and recognized as the best available for their superior quality and ergonomic design. He has also developed popular easy-to–use ceramic sharpening stones that are unsurpassed in quality.

With no more than two knives and his extraordinary skills, Wayne Barton has introduced us to the unique art form of chip carving. He continues to create his magnificent carvings, which are enjoyed and copied by so many others.

I am fortunate to be one of the many carvers who engaged in the practice of chip carving. This was made possible entirely through the writings of Wayne Barton on this carving specialty. The pages that follow present the eighth book Wayne has written on the subject. It is the culmination of more than fifty years of his chip carving knowledge and artistic insights. Having been exposed to the entire spectrum of chip carving information available over the past twenty-some years, I can attest to the fact that the following pages cannot be equaled for advancing your knowledge and skills. Read, observe, practice and enjoy.

David W. Crothers

Souderton, Pennsylvania