Monday, July 2, 2012

It's in the blood...

If someone were to ask me where my creativity comes from, I would have to say it's from my mother.  Before MS made it too difficult for her, she dabbled in several crafty areas.  She's been into crocheting, knitting, drawing, sewing, even wood burning for a quick second.  But where did my mother get her creative streak?  My grandfather, mostly.  Let's meet my Grandpa 'Let, shall we?

DSC_0067

Growing up, we could never say my grandparents' last name, so it was always Grandma and Grandpa 'Let.  =)  My Grandpa is 91 years young, emphasis on the "young".  Oh, he thinks he's as old as Methuselah, but he's doing very well for his age.  He still lives alone, still can drive, and is quite active.  He's an avid birdwatcher.  And he's an amazing wood carver.

DSC_0071

I grew up with this in my house.  It's one of his early pieces.  He modeled it somewhat after my grandmother.

Donkey

He started this donkey early in his carving career, but it was on the shelf unfinished until recently.  He's finally finished it and I think he said it took him about 50 years to get it finished.

Bird and Caterpillar detail

One of his favorite subjects would be birds.  Most of his bird carvings are so detailed and so realistic that you would expect it to fly away if you got too close.

Hummingbird

He is very humble.  He calls himself a "whittler,"  not an artist. 

Wizard

My brother-in-law wants a tattoo of this.

Falconer glove

This is not a real glove.  It's a piece of wood, people.  Amazing.  It had a falcon on it, but one of his cats knocked it off the shelf.

Cane detail

The head of my grandpa's cane.  He has carved a few canes for himself.  He also makes back scratchers.

Dragon

Grandpa said that someone asked him how he got so good at carving.  He said that he tries to challenge himself every time he starts a new piece.  I totally "get" that.  When I'm looking for a new project, I don't want to just make something for the sake of making something.  I want it to be a little difficult, I want to learn something new.  I certainly could have found a simple afghan pattern to whip up quickly for my latest project (I'll share it in the next post), but I know I'll be more proud of it if it's a challenge and I want to be proud of what I give to my mother.

If you'd like to see more of my grandpa's work, go HERE.  I'm getting ready to start making photobooks for my family of his carvings.  I need to get copies to him to identify the different types of birds, maybe tell a story about a few of them, just to make it that much more special.  It's going to be everyone's Christmas present this year.  =)

5 comments:

  1. Wow! Your grandfather is definitely an artist. How lucky you are to have grown up surrounded by such creativity.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well it is truly inspiring to see your grandfather's work. I am always amazed at how talented people are. Although my mother sewed and crocheted she never had the patience to teach me. I learned from my mother-in-law. She was such a blessing to me. You are truly blessed to have such talented people in your life. By the way I am so sorry to hear about the fire. I am glad no one was hurt. So glad they had somewhere to stay. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Sally

    ReplyDelete
  3. Your Grandpa rocks!!! Amazing woodwork. I come from a very creative family too, and it's funny because I think my grandfather (who died before I was born) also did woodwork! I remember my mom used to have these 'wooden paintings' all around the house when I grew up that he made. It's nice and truly a blessing to be a part of such a creative 'herd', don't you think? :)
    xo,
    wink

    ReplyDelete
  4. He is very talented, it is very obvious that creativity is in your blood! Crochet and knitting is in mine as my nana always knitted and my mum could crochet :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, your grandfather is a true artist. His carvings are amazing. The donkey is my favorite. I promise I'm not a stalker, I just happened to run across your blog from a comment you posted on Little Pink Monster, and I'm a new blogger who loves to peek into other people's blogs because it's so fascinating! :)

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...