ScottR

So where did you get my picture? I hate having my picture taken.....unless it is totally spontaneous. If I don't know, I don't mind. Seriously, the last 9 months or so have been crazy busy for me. I mostly get time on here by running it in the background at work, and peeking in during periods of boredom. I haven't had any of those for nearly a year and have had weeks pass by without even being online for any reason. This past month month I've been out with a trade show (first one in two years), an unexpected week out recovering from retina surgery and traveling 1700 miles round trip to see me favorite niece get married. Tomorrow it's back to work and try to catch up. I may get back on line this weekend....if I take some time off from carving. SR

I think this might be my favorite build you've done, Mike! Love the playing too! SR

Backlit seems to be the best choice for separating the curves and contours from the swirly streaks in the ash layers. does make it a bit dark though. SR

Been traveling a bit and not on line much.....but when I was home I did get a bit of work done. SR

Nothing like a two year old to teach you how to multi-task. SR

SR

You're probably right. It does have a kind of ball and claw thing going on though, I see the feline reference. SR

SR

Time will tell. On of the fun things about carving something from wood, is you can tell everyone you are carving a tree...or several in this case, and it will always be true, no matter what shape is left after all the chips have been removed. SR

I love it! SR

Let's see if a natural setting is better. SR

I've been crazy busy this year and haven't had much chance to hang out around here. I do still carve on the weekends to refresh and recharge. Something I learned in fact this past couple of weeks, as opposed to in principal is functional binocular vision is a huge asset when creating in three dimensions. My left eye decided to tear and detach its retina about ten days ago. I had almost immediate surgery and a gas bubble and my vision is coming back pretty much on schedule. But the gas bubble means I have two weeks of looking through a fish bowl in my left eye. The water level goes down daily and I can see over the water line....but it's full of reflections and refractions. the bubble should dissipate in another 4 or 5 days. I've carving on this thing in the mean time.....I hope I don't discover strangeness when my vision comes all the way back. I'm going to have to set up some hard side lighting for future pics. It's hard to tell what you are looking at here. SR

Brilliant! SR

Oh my. I'm a little stunned at how much I like this poplar. That perfectly straight grain works so well with your neck through laminates.....and...contrasts well with the ziricote. Like Biz says, I'm not particularly a fan of BC Rich shapes, but this whole package works amazingly well for me. Wow. SR

Bravo Dave! SR

Context. Context is everything. SR

Love the contrast between the ziricote and the poplar. SR

I know it looks the same.... ....but my hands tell me it definitely is not. SR

Give it some time. It will grow into something recognizable. Or maybe it will shrink into something recognizable. SR

Another half gallon of chips, another squint to see the progress.... All the work does make the beer taste good. SR

I recognize that router table from years past. Are we a bunch of old farts or what? SR

And I made a bunch this weekend. I thought my comments were going to begin with ....only subtle changes. But I think most astute observers will see what went on.....and off.I didn't think I'd get very far as the ass end grain of bubinga is hard as hell. When you get out of that though ash is down right pleasant. SR

Excellent job on that cover! The whole thing is looking great. SR

Thanks Zeke, good to hear from you again. And yeah there's been a lot of wood removal so far. I've swept up over 15 gallons of chips, and will create many more in the months to come. SR

Bigfoot's got some gnarly toes.... SR