November 2009

Welcome to this edition of Creative Woodworks & Crafts!

In our Readers’ Gallery we have a great entry from three eighth graders from St. Isidore School in Belleveue, Saskatchewan, Canada—(from left to right) Nicholas Gaudet, Jean Vachon, and Joel Bussiere. These three young men are rightly quite proud of their original project, "The Fortress," which was made from Baltic birch and pine. They are all participants in a unique visual arts class taught by Aurele Gareau, which provides in-struction in scrolling, carving, woodburning, and intarsia. There is so much interest in this class that students have been traveling from other schools in nearby towns to participate. This is encouraging to us, because we like seeing younger people being attracted to scrolling and other related forms of woodworking.
    
In a similar vein, we will be featuring in our next issue an article by Dirk Boelman entitled "Scrollsaw Stars," which explains how Dirk and Karen Boelman (of The Art Factory) and Floyd and Carole Hacker (of Ocooch Hardwoods) introduced a group of sixty children—ranging in age from six to sixteen—to the art of scroll sawing. The four of them were very touched and inspired by how much those kids loved scrolling! The students fairly beamed with joy as they worked intently to complete their own star projects—cutting, sanding, and in some cases, painting. It was clear that many children greatly enjoy the experience and satisfaction of making something with their own hands "by themselves."
     
Think of the satisfaction you derive from your woodworking and, if you haven't already done so, consider sharing your knowledge and expertise with a younger person; it just may change their life! If any of you are already involved with teaching scrolling to children, we'd love to hear from you, perhaps for our Readers’ Gallery section. Dirk and Karen Boelman would also like to personally support such efforts, and they write: "If you have an opportunity to teach scrollsawing to kids, please contact us. We would be happy to send you some free patterns. Call us at 800-566-6394, or email us at dirkdraws@centurytel.net."
    
Until the next issue, wishing you all the best!

Sincerely,