Here's one of the funnest little projects that I've worked on this year and it's been "ongoing" for a full month now. Thank goodness it's almost finished and the picture to the left shows exactly where I am with it right now.
What is it you ask? Good question because I've completely made it up as I went and this little fellow has evolved into quite the character. For beginners his name is "Herbert Sherbert" because I was looking for something to rhyme with Herbert when one of the kids suggested "Sherbet" and to paint his hair a bright and crazy color. I wanted Herbert to be a bright, happy, and cheerful fellow so that name sounded good to me.
I began this little mortise & tenon carving project by first cutting a nice three-prong rhododendron branch that was well seasoned. As seen in the pictures to the right those two outer branches looked like outstretched arms to me and that's all that my mind needed to get going. The center branch was a bit too narrow to make a good head so I decided to strip the outer bark away then made the stem perfectly round. I was thinking that I could use it as a tenon to hold an enlarged head securely in place.
As the pictures just below show, I then used a 1" diameter maple branch for the head by first drilling a 3/8" mortise which would tightly fit my tenon. With a little wood glue I then placed it onto the body for a snug fit.
After the head was securely attached I then went on to drill the holes for the eyes, nose, and ears. I'll post the remaining photos and the finished "Herbert Sherbert" just as soon as I can finish him.
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