Each of us got to chose what size we wanted to make and Peter cut the pattern for us right there. Freshcut cottonwood is used and it was still green, moist and water even came up from the grain when we were working on it.
After choosing the style, the first night (2 solid hours) was spent sanding by hand until the front side was smooth. We had to use coarse sandpaper at first until we got the roughness down and then progressed to finer paper until the surface was beautifully smooth. I am the youngest person working on this project, so when my hands and shoulders were cramping and I was tempted to complain, I made sure my suffering was in silence (or at least under my breath and only after an elder complained first about their arthritis and aching joints).
I thought mine resembled a wood toilet seat lid I had seen recently at Lowes!
The tools of the trade are double sided wood carving knives and trowels and chisels. Each of them takes a different technique to handle and use and of course I developed my own technique for being the only one to cut herself in the process. Only a small cut and I quickly wrapped it in a paper towel and kept on chisling.
We had to chisel the wood down to less than a 1/4 inch in areas and it had to have curves that Peter marked for us. Clamps helped us keep the wood in place and I thought the wood was hard to chisel being wet......boy...by night three, the wood had dried and then I discovered what hard wood was like to try and chisel. BUT, I did it and now we are waiting to soak it, shape it, then let it dry......Now to start thinking about designs and patterns to paint it....I'm getting excited, this might actually work!
I've quickly discovered this is not a project I can think about doing in the winter months, especially in my living room.....
