Friday, November 4, 2016

Hobos

I subscribed to National Geographic Magazine for years and on the front cover of one issue was a story about a woman in Tennessee who carved characters out of wood that represented her kin and fellowman living in her area.

I was fascinated by the story and some of the pictures about the wood carver. I remember picking up a piece of wood and used it to carve one of the characters shown here. They are also painted using ink thinned with water.

I have had them setting around for many years and can still see them standing on a shelf in my closet here in my office.

I bought two new sets of wood carving tools and never really used them--I preferred a regular pocket knife to do the carvings with and I still carry that around with me in my pants pocket.

2 comments:

  1. These are so neat! I love the natural colors in them.

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    Replies
    1. I used watered-down inks for the most part. I tried to make them look like characters we called "Hobos" or people walking along the railroad tracks. When I grew up we lived beside a railroad track and lots of hobos walked past our house. Now and then mom would invite them up on the front porch for a bowl of soup or for a cold drink of water.

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Lost

Rain on the skylight. Pitter-patter. Not cold enough for snow or ice but nice to hear the rain. Read the story. I used to draw a lot.