Times Advocate, 1992-01-08, Page 5Lucan carver enjoys hobby
By Ray
Lewis
LUCAN -
Pressure. Peo-
ple arc always
looking for an es-
cape or a way to
tillibeat . it. John
MacDonald's escape
route has lead him to
become an accomplished carver of
wooden waterfowl, a hobby which
places him at the other end of the
spectrum completely.
"It has to be," said MacDonald,
a native .of Lucan. "chat's why I
like it so mach. You can divorce
yourself from the normal stresses
and get doing this. It's really relax-
ing."
Looking for a way to relax, Mac-
Donald ,took up carving in 1984.
During the day for the past 25
years he has been involved in
teaching automotive apprentices
and is still going strong at Fan-
shawe College.
.His .brother in --Leamington hail
picked up the exercise, and actually
convinced MacDonald to give it a
try. After borrowing a few books
-he began to practice without ever
having worked with wood. Most
people take a few courses on the
subject first, but MacDonald in-
stead developed his own technique
which was , hard because he
couldn't find anyone to really help
him.
"It's really hard because no one
really wants to help you or give
free advice," confided MacDonald.
Most are afraid of giving up some
of their own technique."
MacDonald and his family
spend most summers at their cot-
tage in Manitoulin which is also
where most of his wood conics
from. He prefers to use bass which
is light and .inexpensive, but also
likes tupelo, a swamp tree from
South of the border which is also
light but hard to come by. The
carver air dries his medium for
about two years before- using it.
MacDonald has used a little pine
but doesn't like it for fine work be-
cause it splits very easy.
From his basement workshop in his
home south of Lucan, MacDonald
works diligently at his projects.
His favorite subjects include
standing geese or ducks, but he has
experimented with various species
John MacDonald of Canadian Carvers in Lucan displays a hand carved piece he has just com-
pleted for a Kitchener woman.
Campaign to fight Labour Law
TORONTO - The All Business
Coalition (ABC) has launched a ra-
dio advertising campaign on Janu-
ary 6 which outlines the likely im-
pact • for employment and
investment of the NDP govern-
ment's planned changes to the La-
bour Relations Act.
ABC commissioned a compre-
hensive survey of the economic im-
pact of radical changes to the La-
bour Relations Act. It found
widespread concern about job loss
and lost investment. A follow-up
study to evaluate the final draft of
the legislation is currently under-
way.
The decision to launch a public
information campaign was made af-
ter repeated efforts to communicate 0
the dangers of the initiative to the
government failed, say the organi- i
cation.
"Members of our organization
and other business representatives
have wriuen ,and met with govern-
ment officials including George
Thomson, Deputy Minister of La-
bour and Premier Bob Rae. Our ar-
guments fell on deaf ears - they arc
listening but not hearing," said
ABC spokesman Ian Howcroft.
The primary concern of the mem-
bers of the coalition is the negative
impact they say this will have on
employment and investment in On-
tario. However, they arc also con-
cerned this legislation will harm
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cooperation in the workplace and
reduce workers' individual rights.
The Nth' government is planning
to conduct hearings -on its proposed
changes to the Ontario Labour Re-
lations Act. "The Government
claims that drastic changes must be
made to the Act - a notionaveJcom-
pletely reject It follows that any
consultation process is faulty when
the premise on which it is based is
incorrect," Howcroft stated.
including seagulls. Each piece is
different and demands a considera-
ble amount of time and care. The
standing pieces take between 75-
100 hours while smaller ones are
35-40 from start io•finish.
"It takespalot ,o�^fTMTMtime
,,��and pa-
tIP.nne,"- MacDonald. "For
me 1 like to try something different
with every one."
After marking the wood out and
shaping it with a band saw, the
piece is lined anti the feathers out-
lined from whence they will be
carved.
Patterns for various projects can
be pu1''hase4-at carving shows, but
MacDonald prefers to use his own
and thereby maintain his own
unique style.
From there it is a matter of detail-
ing using a type of grinder called a
fotedom, which helps speeds things
up, or a simple Iinpleum knife
which MacDonald also -finds to
eork well. Feather patterns arc
tched and small lines are burnt
into the piece using a wood burning
kit, to resemble, small feathers.
The fine work is the stage,wherc
the feathers are burned. It takes the
most time and is very delicate. In
competitions, which can be found
throughout Ontario and where Mac-
Donald has done fairly well, judges
will look to sec closeness of the
veins of the feather. The closer you
can get them, the better they arc.
Once\ burned, the subject is
sealed with -a straight, clear lacquer
to prevent paint from soaking in
during the next stage. MacDonald
uses acrylic based artists paints be-
cause they dry quickly.
"Painting was the hardest stage
for me," confirmed MacDonald.
"To get colours to blend without
any training was the toughest."
The artist uses light washes of
15-20 coats to give the proper
depth of colour. A lot of mixing is '
required to get the proper colours
but the biggest pan is technique to
get a natural blending of the feath-
ers.
MacDonald likes to find different
natural bases to mount his projects
on such as oak, red cedar, walnut,
driftwood. Legs arc cast in pewter
and must be purchased along with
the Oasis eyes.
Currently, he, is also working on
an oakepiece for a church and does
dabble a little in other woodwork-
ing projects, but sticks mainly to
his fowl. Ike completes about six
or seven a year but likes to keep
about four on the go all in different
stages at once &usually different
species. It keeps it from getting
boring and prevents him from tak-
ing too much time off which makes
it hard to get back into.
"It's something I wanted to devel-
op so that when I retire I won't just
be sitting around," Said MacDon-
ald, who in his spare time enjoys
scuba diving and underwater pho-
tography. "There are a lot of good
and serious carvers in our immedi-
ate area., For me, it's still a relaxing
hobby."
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