It has been a week and there does not seem to be a lot a change in the rabbit. This is the problem with finishing a piece, it takes time. So many people who work in wood despise this stage of the process for this very reason, it is slow and tedious. However, this is the stage that can make a carving into a superior finished piece or it be a piece that features all of the imperfections that were accumulated during the carving stage of the process.
Last week I sanded out all of the carving marks with 60 grit sandpaper. This week I used 80 grit cloth backed paper to remove all of the marks left by the 60 grit paper. But in the process I also found some the imperfections that the 60 grit did not remove. It took extra time with the 80 grit to get them out. Well, you see what I mean, it is a long process. The temptation is to rush and circumvent the process and skip ahead to the end. That would be a mistake. I still have at least three or four more grades of increasingly fine sandpaper to work through.
Actually, it is boring to even write about this so until I finish this process, I am not going to spend a lot of time writing about it. Take a look at the pictures of the rabbit after sanding and after wetting it. I am going to try and work through the rest of the grades over the next week or so.
I have other projects on the go as well. I find that it is better to have several projects at different stages of completion at one time. For instance, There are projects that have sitting on the shelf for years that I have not finished. Some of them I left because I became interested in other ideas and others I left because I did not know how to finish them or I could not make up my mind on how to finish them. At any rate, t I am in the process of finishing many of those older projects.
I am also working on several new projects. I have an idea to create three nutcrackers for Christmas this year. My daughter, Nicole, bought a book on nutcrackers that is published by the Leavenworth Nutcracker museum. It is even signed by Arlene Wagner who is the author as well as the curator of the museum. I have been reading this book and looking at the pictures and thinking about how I want to approach this subject. I want to preserve the idea of a nutcracker but I want to take it in a different direction. http://www.nutcrackermuseum.com/. The book itself can be purchased from the museum or you can purchase on Amazon as well, http://www.amazon.com/Art-Character-Nutcrackers/dp/1933112085.
Actually, I have so many ideas for new projects that I have to seriously think about which ones I want to tackle next. Over the next several weeks I will write about some of the other projects that I am working on. There is lots to write about so I will need to organize my thoughts to make this somewhat coherent.
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