Woods of the European Union

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season, and as we look toward the new year ahead we look forward to doing a lot more carving, improving our carving techniques and maybe even getting out to one or two carving shows, or join a club and make new friends. There is a lot to look forward to so let’s all make 2023 a great year!

This month, I start the year off with a brief discussion on the woods of the European Union, and follow with a list of some of the upcoming woodcarving shows and events for the first three months of 2023,

Woods of the European Union

The four largest producers and exporters of softwood lumber in Europe are Sweden, Finland, Germany, and Austria. Together they produced just over 56% of Europe’s total lumber production in 2019, and the international shipments by these “Top 4” accounted for about two-thirds of continent’s total export

The main source of the lumber used in the world is forests, which can be classified as virgin, semi-virgin and plantations. Much timber is removed for firewood by local populations in many countries, especially in the third world, but this amount can only be estimated, with wide margins of uncertainty.

Nearly all of our domestic building wood is softwood (it’s estimated to comprise about 97 percent of that used in new houses), which comes primarily from the South and West—60 percent of the Southern harvest is softwood, and 98 percent out West.

38% of the sawn softwood consumed was home grown, with 92% of the imported softwood coming from the EU and 6% from Russia. 7% of the sawn hardwood consumed was home grown, with 55% of the imports coming from the EU, 21% from the USA, and 18% from tropical sources.

China has grown rapidly over the recent decades to become one do the world’s largest wood producing countries and consumer of forest products, and it has recently overtaken the US in sawn wood production. The country is by far the largest producer and consumer of wood-based panels and paper.

The EU’s wood-based industries cover a range of downstream activities, including woodworking industries, large parts of the furniture industry, pulp and paper manufacturing and converting industries, and the printing industry.

Softwoods

European black pine (Pinus nigra)
Jack pine (Pinus banksiana)
Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)
Monterey pine (Pinus radiata)
Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa)
Red pine (North America) (Pinus resinosa)
Scots pine, red pine (UK) (Pinus sylvestris)
White pine. Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus)
Lime (European Linden) (Talia europaea)

Hardwoods

Oak
Beech
Ash

European hardwoods are used extensively in construction, furniture and door manufacture.

Upcoming Shows & Events for Jan. – March, 2023

January 8 – Port Orange, Florida. Four area clubs host show at Port Orange Adult Center, 4790 South Ridgewood Avenue; 9am to 4pm. Call Connie Teeters (386) 624-2334; or email Connieteeters49@gmail.com.

January 10 – Harlingen, Texas. Chip-0-Texas Show at Park Place Park, 8:30am to 2:00pm. Free admission. Ken Eberle (785) 650-1055.

January 20-21 – Edinburg, Texas. Rio Grande Valley Woodcarvers Show and Competition at Nomad Shrine Club, 10am to 4pm. Admission: $5. Email Dennis Horstman: dhorstmanl7@gmail.com.

February 1-4 – Ashland, Nebraska. Nebraska Carving Retreat at Peter Keiwit Lodge, Mahoney State Park. Four-day classes. Email Roger Nadrchal: wood_chips@yahoo.com. Website: www.nebraskacarvingretreat.com.

February 9-20 -Tampa, Florida. Woodcarving show and competition at Florida State Fair. Competition open to all Florida residents, including seasonal. Brenda Gregory (813) 734- 2810; brenda.gregory@floridastatefair.com.

February 23-March 19 – Anchorage, Alaska. Artistry in Wood at Midtown Mall, 600 East Northern Lights Blvd #133; noon to 6pm (closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays). Jim Powell (907) 887-9701; j-hpowell@alaskan.com.

February 25-26 – Mesa, Arizona. Desert Woodcarving Show and Sale. Bobby Gray (480) 323-8981, bgray839@gmail.com. www.desertwoodcarvingshow.com

March 4 – Tucson, Arizona. Southwest Woodcarvers demonstrate and exhibit during Saddle Brooke Spring Art Show at Saddle Brooke Two Arts and Craft Center, 38759 S Mountain View Blvd.; 9 to 3. Email: azchipster@gmail.com.

March 11-12 – Millersville, Penn. 48th annual Woodcarving & Wildlife Art Festival at Millersville University Student Memorial Center, Shenks Lane. Saturday 10 to 5; Sunday 10 to 4. Admission $5. Jeff Pretz (717) 940-3311; jefpretz@ptd.net.

Reader’s Comments

My good friend, Dean Stewart sent in a nice comments along with photos of a couple of cool festive Gnomes he recently carved:

“Bob,

Happy holidays to you. As the year end I wanted to say thank you for all the hard work you put into the blog. I looked forward to reading every issue.

Here are a couple of gnomes for the holidays in their festive hats.”

Dean’s Holiday Gnomes

Thanks, Dean! I know I can always count on you for a few photos. I like them both but would love to know how you make the one with the moppy beard. Happy holidays to you and your family too!

“The moppy beard is jute cord. The strands were separated into just two or three pieces. They were then applied around the nose with hot glue and then trimmed. I have to give my wife credit for that. She did it.

Regards,

Dean Stewart”

Photo Shop

“Photo Shop” is the section of Wood Chip Chatter where carvers can send in photos of their wood carvings for display. It’s your chance to show off your work…sort of a show and tell. The photos will only be displayed and no comments or critiques will be made. For critiques on your carvings send them in to the “Carver’s Corner.” Send your photos to carverbobk@woodchipchatter.com.

Our one and only entry to the “Photo Shop” this month comes from my friend, Nicky Foley. Nicky Wrote:

These are eventually finished and off to their new homes, a grandmother ordered these one for each of her grandchildren.

That sure is a nice batch of Santa ornaments, Nicky! Some lucky grandchildren are going to get a nice gift from grandma this year!

Our next entry to the “Photo Shop” comes from my good friend, Dick Bonewitz from Carmel, Indiana. Dick writes:

"Here is a picture for your next issue.

This cardinal was power carved out of Tupelo and painted with Liquitex acrylics.   It was a bandsaw cutout from Josh Guge, who is an excellent carver and instructor.

Josh has detailed cast models of his birds to follow while carving.   It makes the process of getting correct dimensions and feather detail so much easier while working remotely.

Dick Bonewitz

Carmel, In"

Thanks for the photo, Dick! I can always use it. That’s a beautiful cardinal. Very well carved and exceptionally painted.

Free Pattern

Many of you have written asking for a Comfort Bird pattern so I thought it would be a good idea to include one in this month’s newsletter.

News & Announcements

The International Association of Woodcarvers has upcoming Zoom meetings on the following Saturdays at 3PM EST with special guest presenters. Check them out…

Zoom: 310-460-3575

Schedule:

1/14 – Chris Morgan

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOODCARVERS

COME JOIN US!!!

Lancaster County Woodcarvers Zoom Meetings

(Informal meeting – Open to all)

Zoom: 417 966 8402

Schedule

Tuesday, January 10 at 7PM

Tuesday, February 14 at 7PM

Tuesday, March 14 at 7PM

Tuesday, April 11 at 7PM

Tuesday, May 9 at 7PM

Tuesday, June 13 at 7PM

Lancaster County Woodcarvers

Come join the fun…and you might even learn something.

The Jersey Hills Wood Carvers (JHWC) club is a small but growing group of wood carvers sharing their time, knowledge and joy of woodcarving. The JHWC generally meets from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Thursday of each month (when school is in session) at the Jefferson Township High School wood shop classroom.

Membership is “FREE” and open to anyone interested in woodcarving regardless of their ability.

JHWC’s Upcoming Meetings and Events

Jan. 19th

Feb. 2nd, 16th

Mar. 2nd, 16th, 30th

Apr. 6th, 20th

May 4th, 18th

June 1st, 15th

For more information contact:

Al Santucci alsantucci4@gmail.com President

Bill Brunner billbrunnerdesign@gmail.com newsletter/website editor

Or visit:

Website: https://www.jerseyhillswoodcarver.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/736479646821641/

Upcoming Workshops

Flat Plane Figures

Teacher: Ryan Olsen

Dates: January 14,15,21,22

Times: Sat, Sun – 9:30am-11:30 Pacific /11:30am-01:30pm Central / 12:30pm – 2:30pm Eastern

8 hours (4 sessions – 2 hours each day)

Cost: $95

Location: Online (Via Zoom)

For details and to sign up email: Ryan Olsen ryanscaricatures@gmail.com

American Cowboy

Teacher: Dave Stetson

Join me carving the American Cowboy. Workshop will be hosted by the Woodcarving Academy on February 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19. Hours will be 9:30 – 11:30 Pacific time, 10:30 – 12:30 Mountain time, 11:30 – 1:30 Central time, 12:30 – 2:30 Eastern time. Six two hour sessions will take you thru design and carving techniques accompanied by stories from past experiences carving cowboys with close friends from all over the country.

Cost will be $125 payable thru check or Zelle, or $130 via PayPal. Pattern for cutout will be provided or 9” tall roughout I’ve designed can be purchased from Dwayne Gosnell Roughouts.

To attend the workshop, a passcode and login code will be provided for Zoom, a free app downloadable to your computer, tablet or phone. All sessions will be recorded for student playback.

Online Classes With Chris Hammack

Teacher: Chris Hammack

Chris Hammack is offering a new series of online classes to help students learn and sharpen their woodcarving skills. Individual and Group Classes are available through his web site chrishammackart.com/groupclass