2024 Northeast Woodcarvers Roundup
Welcome to our 22nd year for the Northeast Woodcarvers Roundup. The dates are July 21 through the 25th, 2024. The Roundup is held at Cherry Ridge Campsites, 147 Camp Road, Honesdale PA .
The Roundup is a gathering of woodcarvers interested in learning and sharing the craft and art of woodcarving. There are several of these types of events held throughout the US and they offer an exciting opportunity for the beginning to advanced carver.
Also, take a look at the FAQ page, it will help answer some of your questions.
If you are staying at the campgrounds please make sure to make your reservations early call the campgrounds directly at 570-488-6654. If you are searching for other places to stay, check our page titled “Overnight Accommodations”.
Check back often for updated information.
See you in July.
Class Information – Watch for Updates
Mike Bloomquist – Mike will be teaching 4 days this year. Monday and Tuesday will be a two day class teaching the “Dancing Mouse”. Student will carve the mouse or a santa if you don’t like mice. Then assemble the base. Wednesday and Thursday will be his flat plane potpourri choice of projects.
See more of Mike’s carvings by Clicking here Mike Bloomquist began carving fishing lures in 1985. After failed attempts carving a wood duck and a draft horse, he learned how to really sharpen tools from a Rick Butz video and realized what many others found enjoyable about the art. Then, in 1994, he attended a woodcarving show sponsored by the Mohawk Valley Art and Woodcarving Assoc. Inspired by the variety and level of talent, woodcarving reached addiction status for him that year, and now serves as an excellent example of a hobby gone horribly out of control. While Mike started out in the Scandinavian Flat Plane style of woodcarving, his skills now encompass several forms including wildlife, folk art, fantasy, in-the-round, relief, and an occasional abstract. His pieces have been adopted for collections in Canada, England, Germany, Iceland, and across the United States. He enjoys teaching, demonstrating, and writing about woodcarving and proudly takes credit for Shanghaiing his friend Harold Kaltenbach into teaching at the very first year of the NEWR.
Chris Whillock – Chris is a new instructor for the NEWR, but not new to woodcarving. He will be teaching spirit faces at this years event. You will learn facial expressions and the correct proportions and placement of facial features. Chris will be teaching all 4 days. Maximum 12 students per day. He will be open to all skill levels. If you don’t have the correct tool he will have some available for your use in this class.
Chris hails from Minnesota where he operates the Whittling Shack. He and his father Ivan have been involved in teaching woodcarver for decades. He is also the US distributor of Stubai tools. Chris will be bringing some of his carving supplies to sell to attendees.
Jim Hiser – -Jim will be offering various Caricature projects . He will be teaching three days Monday through Wednesday Maximum number of students per day 10. All level of carvers welcome. All projects are done with a knife and palm gouges. Projects are designed as 1 day projects.
Jim teaches several classes each year and attends various carving and art shows displaying his work. He is a member of the Caricature Carvers of America and likes promoting Caricature carving to new and experienced carvers.
Jim O’Dea – Jim will be teaching all four days this year. Jim has a large variety of projects available for the beginner to advanced. He will also be bringing his assortment of woodcarving items and tools for purchase. Additional class information will be provided as we get it.
Jim O’Dea has 45 years experience carving human caricatures, carousel horses, realistic freshwater fish, whales and many other subjects. During this period he has studied woodcarving with several master wood sculptors across the USA and Canada. Jim has taught woodcarving for over 20 years, including evening courses at Ledyard High School, Ledyard CT; weekend classes at the New England Carousel Museum in Mystic, CT; the New England Woodcarvers Retreat at the University of Rhode Island; the Florida Woodcarvers Roundup, Clearwater, FL; the Lake Placid Woodcarving Experience at Lake Placid, NY; the NorthEast Woodcarvers Roundup in Honesdale, PA; The Michigan Woodcarvers Roundup at Evart, MI; the Indiana Woodcarvers Summer Camp,Bremen, IN; The Buckeye Woodcarvers roundup at Fletcher, Ohio; and numerous classes for the Mystic Carvers Club in Mystic, CT, Rainbow Woodcarvers Club in Niagara Falls, NY; the Southtowns Woodcarvers Club in Hamburg, NY; the Peace River Carvers Club in Arcadia, FL; the Myakka River Carvers Club in El Jobean, Fl, and the North Port Woodcarvers in Northport, FL. Jim lives in Rotonda West, FL and spends summers on Grand Island, NY. See Jim’s web site with useful information to those pursuing woodcarving as a hobby here.
Chris O’Dea - Chris has taught for several years at the Roundup. Her past projects have been the quilted Christmas socking. Watch for updates to her class information.
Harold Kaltenbach – Bark Houses ” Harold will be teaching Monday through Thursday. He will have a variety of blanks to choose from. Please bring all your tools, no tool to big or too small and have an open mind to think outside the box. Class size max 14. Carving gnome homes from single pieces of cottonwood bark and also double pieces of bark for advance carvers
Arland Zeiler – Beginner Woodcarving – Arland will be teaching techniques for the beginning woodcarver. Students will be using a knife only. They will learn the characteristics of wood and different terms related to woodcarving. This is an excellent class for those that wish to learn woodcarving. Offered -Monday only. Arland will also be offering classes in 2 different styles of letter openers one day and mouse cup hanger or mushrooms. A new project will be the bracelets shown below.
Arland has been teaching beginning carving at the Roundup for many years. He also has been teaching beginning carving to Boy Scouts for more years than he can remember.
John Griscti – Chip Carving -Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday- Students will learn to identify the differences between various Chip carving knives, and what features are best for the beginner and advanced chip carver. Each student will learn the correct way to hold their knife and will then start carving several basic designs. Each student will then progress to more complex designs such as rosettes – Both advanced and beginner chip carvers are welcomed. There will be different projects to choose from. Pictures below are samples of John’s Chip Carving projects.
Bob Muller – Bob will be teaching Relief Carving this year on at least 2 days. There will be several projects to choose from. If someone has an idea for a project we can try to work it into a relief carving. Tools needed are gouges and v tools along with at least one knife. Mallet size tools work best for relief carving because of their length. Class size is limited to 9 people each day. Stay tuned for pictures.
Bob has been woodcarving since 1998. He has carved many different styles of carving including Cottonwood, Caricature, Animals and Relief.
Joan Lech - Joan will be joining us again this year. Stay tuned for class information, she always has some fun projects.
Leon Standish – Leon will be our sharpener again this year. If your tools need a tune up bring them to Leon’s station. Leon not only sharpens tools but is an accomplished woodcarver. So he knows what type of edge to put on your carving tools.
Sharpening Class – Bob Muller will be teaching sharpening techniques. This is a 45 minute session on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings before the classes start. We will start with sharpening tools and then basic knife sharpening techniques. Then the following days will be gouges and the V-tool. We will identify common mistakes and problems with some of the tools. We ask that all beginners attend this class.