Old-World Wood Carving Classes

DAVID CALVO has been a professional woodcarver for forty-five years and been enthusiastically teaching wood carving for a little over thirty years . He was fortunate to be trained by professional European woodcarvers and sculptors. He has been a featured master woodcarver at many International Woodworking Trade Shows where he has given workshops on woodcarving technique and designing skills. David has also been a featured TV guest on the national PBS Television shows: "The Woodwright's Shop" with Roy Underhill and "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips. In addition, David writes articles for national publications to promote and share his skill. He is a sought-after teacher because his unique apprenticeship training is a rarity. In addition, he is also a natural speaker who has the ability to articulate the mechanics of the skill of wood carving in an easily understood fashion.

TEACHING PROCESS: Over the years, David has honed his step by step teaching process to its simplest form. He teaches his students using one of the most important factors that excelerated his own personal training. His teachers had to be very efficent because they were making a professional living at scupture so they taught him in a straight A-Z line, meaning no detouring from what is essential. Each step in the workshop will be made obvious to you in a logical way and reinforced with muscle memory excercises for your benefit. Equally important, the group structure creates an environment that allows David to continually repeat and reinforce key points which are so important in advancing each student's learning curve. He has time tested and refined his teaching approach over the years and it is highly successful for adults. You will be happy with your results.

 

Five-Day Bare Bones Wood Carving Workshop

We have a lot of fun but this is an intensive workshop to give the beginner enthusiast a solid foundation in woodcarving. No matter what your carving style preference, you need to know these fundamentals of carving technique and you need to know them well. In athletic sports (I consider woodcarving part sport) there is training in body mechanics. The importance of body mechanics is akin to a tennis player who has trained his volley to be "on point" with both efficency and grace. He then takes great pleasure in volleying the ball back and forth across the net. The same is true for a woodcarver with carving tool in hand. This is the romance of the skill. Hence, what I teach are those important things to encourage your interest and desire in carving. There are equivalents to this in woodcarving that are "absolute necessities" that you will learn in my school too. So to be frank, this is a serious beginners training to make you a better woodcarver so that your creative dreams can come true.

 

WE WILL STUDY AND EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING:

• SHARPENING WOOD CARVING TOOL: Learn how to design and sharpen your tool edge so that you have better control and a more versatile woodcarving chisel. I will show you how to sharpen with the proficiency that was used in the European apprenticship programs. I will also incorporate some Japanese sharpening theory because it comes from the samari tool making traditions and you just can't beat it. Having sharp tools that easily "bite" into the wood and do not "skate" are an important ingredient for an avid woodcarver.

• GAINING WOOD CARVING TECHNIQUE: Learn how to handle your carving tools in the wood; from roughing out the beginnings of your project to the final delicate detailing. In my approach, I teach "body mechanics" and it is an integral part of good hand technique. Wood carving is a skill that incorporates the body to better assist you in your hand technique with the gouges. It is like being a baseball player, bat in hand at the plate and the pitcher throws the ball. As you swing the bat you use your body to help step into the hit which helps in the effectiveness of the action. The same is true in woodcarving. You use your body strength and weight, in addition to your hands, for the cutting action in wood. Simply stated; You don't have to be a physical giant to handle woodcarving tools; it's all in the technique.

• THE ART OF SEEING AND VISUAL MAPPING: Learn the mechanical steps in the process of carving. Just like driving a car, you put your key in the ignition to start the car and move the shift from park to drive and as drive you obey traffic signs. The same is true in woodcarving. There are repeated mechanical steps that you do "always" with each project no matter what the design is. I also work with an approach method I call visual mapping. It is an activity that helps you to move through the progressive steps of your carving project. It is teachable and gaining this skill is critical for the beginner's eye. Often I hear my new students say what I call the beginner's mantra... "What do I do next? This is the most repeated words in the beginner's vocabulary and we will address this too!

• LEARN DESIGN SKILLS: Learn how to design your wood carving projects using references that many of the great artists used. There are many basic mechanical steps to designing that are unknown to the novice woodcarver. This approach to building your design skills will expand your imagination and the steps to creating your own projects will start to come more easily to you.

 

Weekend Wood Carving Workshops

TWO & THREE DAY WORKSHOPS

Learning woodcarving is a lot like learning how to write in a language. You need to know the letters of alphabet and what is a vowel and what is a consonant. You need to learn how to put together a word and understand the meaning of it. Then you need to learn how to form a sentence and a paragraph that carries a theme. These are absolute necessities that you need to know in order to write. The same is true in woodcarving, there are absolute necessities you need to know in order to carved with intent and confidence. So in all truthfullness, I really need five days of your time in order to get the complete set of fundamentals into both your hands and your head.

 However, I often get asked if I have weekend courses because of time restrictions. For those of you who cannot find time for the five consecutive days this is what I do. If you take a two or three day course your are taking the first two or three days of my five day workshop which is broken up into daily learning chapters. So three days brings you to chapter three, two days to chapter two. The weekend workshops will give you the basic understanding of the skill of wood carving which includes hand-carving technique, sharpening and designing skills among other topics but the full training takes five days. You will also do the carving projects to reinforce the hand techniques that we talk about so that you gain much needed muscle memory in your hands.

 Some students may be satisfied with the information learned, others may choose to find their way back for another weekend and finish the last two or three days to get all necessary techniques and insights. When you return, (it can be during that calender year or the next) everyone else is at the beginning point on the start of the weekend, but you pick up where you left off to finish your training. That's the story in a nutshell. Call me if you are looking for more info. I am happy to answer any questions.

"I have been carving on and off for 30 years, not really knowing which knife or gouge to use. It has been very frustrating to have all these beautiful tools and not know which ones to use. My main reason for joining the class was to learn which tools to use for a particular job and why, as well as knowledge on layout and design. I had so many questions? By the 2nd day I had learned more than I had known in all of my 30 years of carving."

"I live as far north and as far west in the continental United States as you can get without coming back. For me, to travel this far for a class, it's got to be good. I flew over 3000 miles to David Calvo Studio and another 3000 miles back home. I would do it again in a heartbeat. What a great experience!"

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Updated: December 18, 2024

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"Your teaching technique had an amazing sense of balance. You have a unique insight that allows you to let us struggle enough to learn from our small mistakes but tells you when to be there to answer any questions and to provide right amount of guidance to prevent us from making big mistakes. I enjoyed your wonderful sense of humor."

John Schnobrich- Redwood Falls, Minnesota

Intermediate Five-Day Carving Workshops

MAKE YOUR CARVING DREAMS COME TRUE!

Here is an opportunity to develop your woodcarving skills by becoming more aware of technique and design through progressively more challenging skills. We will work with either a next step technique project of my choosing or a project of your choice to keep you moving forward skill wise. It could be a mirror design or almost anything. Mature carving is built on learning the subtleties of the skill. We will build on the fundamentals that you learned in my beginners course. Among many things, we will work more with the mechanics of your hand technique focusing on intentional controlled cuts. We will continue to train your eyes in aspects of visual mapping or address what I call the mantra question of the beginner woodcarver - "What do I do next?" Generally speaking this course will focus on the next set of techniques that are key for you to unlock a new door in becoming a better woodcarver.

Carved Keepsake Box Workshop

DOVETAILS AND CARVING

Sign Carving (Quarterboards) Workshop

CARVE A BEAUTIFUL SIGN FOR YOUR HOME

Tuesday Evenings Wood Carving Classes

NINE-WEEK SESSIONS

For those of you local enough to have a short drive, here is an opportunity to learn and develop your woodcarving skills on a weekly basis. Read the bare bones description because we will be following that format at a casual weekly pace. This is a unique opportunity for you to learn carving with the help of a skilled professional carver. The class runs from 7:00 - 9:00pm

One-Day Spoon Carving Workshops

LEARN TO MAKE BEAUTIFUL WOODEN SPOONS!

Discover ther Art of Spoon Carving! Ever wanted to create something beautiful and functional with your own hands. Join us for a Spoon Carving workshop, where you'll learn this ancient craft of transforming a simple block of wood into a unique handmade utensil you can use every day!

Why Spoon Carving? It's a perfect project for beginners: Spoon carving is a great introduction to woodworking- no prior experience needed!

Relaxing and Therapeutic: Carving is a mindful, calming process that helps you focus and unwind.

It's Functional Art: Take home a beautiful, hand-carved spoon, perfect for your kitchen or as a thoughtful gift.

All Tools Provided: We'll supply you with everything necessary to carve and make your wooden spoon. ($15 for wood). You just need to bring yourself and your enthusiasm!

Quick Story: I had a woman who was very apprehensive about her abilities and called me multiple times to reconfirm. On the day of the workshop, we walked through all the steps from designing to making. At the end of the day she came up to me with her spoon in her hands, as if she was holding a gift,  and with a big smile said, "I want you to know that this is the most beautiful thing that I have ever made in my life".

Don't miss out on this hands-on, engaging workshop. Join us for a fun and fulfilling experience that combines craftsmanship with creativity. Let's carve something amazing together! You will be surprised with what you create and everyone has a great time!

Blacksmithing Your Own Wood Carving Tools

LEARN TO BLACKSMITH CUSTOM CARVING TOOLS

My German wood carving teacher, Frederick Brunner, forged all his own woodcarving tools. On evening, he proudly showed me the first tool he forged when he was thirteen years old that he used into his eighties. He was not only an able artist but he was also an expert mechanic in the woodcarving field as well. Surprisingly, you can get set up with a small propane forge for little money and make your own tools. And honestly, there is absolutely nothing more satisfying than carving wood with a tool that you have made. Learning how to forge your own wood carving tools will complete your skill set as a woodcarver. You will learn metal forging techniques, methods in how to shape the tool steel using heat. We will go over the hardening and heat treating process. You will learn how to refine the tool steel design and tempering. And finally, you will learn how to put handles on your newly forged carving tools. This is an excellent opportunity to study and understand good tool design which is necessary for the control needed in wood carving. Once you experience the joy of forging your own tools, you will never go back to a store bought tool again. I can honestly say that you will treasure your hand forged tools and they will become the favorites of your collection. Guaranteed.

Calvo Woodcarving School location:

Our school is in Gloucester, Massachusetts on Cape Ann. And, yes you can row a boat all the way around Cape Ann. It's called the Blackburn Challenge! Gloucester is a convenient driving commute from Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New Jersey, Connecticut, Tennessee, New York and New York City area. I have had people drive from Kentucky, Illinois,Tennessee, Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina, Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Texas too. For those flying in we are located 50 minutes north of Logan Airport in Boston. Some people have searched wood carving classes near me and found my school even though I am not in their area. They have called and spoken to me about my teaching approach and made the flight in from Arkansas, Indiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Wisconson, Colorado, South Carolina, Kansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Iowa Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Nebraska, Missouri, Maryland, South Dakota, Montana, California and Alaska too. So with some assurance, I can say I have had someone from every State in the U.S.

Questions on Wood Carving Tools for Classes

 

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