April 2019
Branching out Landrigan demonstrates his wood-carving equipment and loon-making process in the workshop next to his home on Big Mantrap Lake. Hanging on the walls are examples of his colored-pencil work on handcarved bread boards. (Photos by Robin Fish/Enterprise)
of art as a never-ending process of discovery. His carvings of loons, wood ducks, avocets and other aquatic birds Nine of 10 years of the Chili are based on sketches and tracChallenge benefiting the Hubbard ings of photographs that he found County Food Shelf, Bob Landrigan and sometimes scaled up or down. has supplied a loon, hand-carved Years of research and trial-and-erfrom butternut wood, as one of the ror honed his craft. drawing prizes. Sketches on wood, using one color In a recent interview, Landrigan of pencil, led to full-color drawings. recalled how often, while selling Discussions with members of the tickets for that drawing, someone Colored Pencil Society of America has asked him, “How long did it (CPSA) tightened his focus. Mistake you to make that loon?” takes, such as choosing a wood with After a gesture suggesting he an open grain that broke up his finds the question hard to answer, Landrigan said, “A woman asked this the other pencil strokes, led him to pay closer attention to the materials he was choosing. day. It’s almost like time doesn’t count.” Basswood, he said, is the preferred wood for “But the number you tell them is 40 hours,” his people to draw on because it has no open grain. wife, Elaine, reminded him. “But for me,” Bob persisted, “and I think for a “That little mill over there at Two Inlets might lot of people that fiddle with a lot of activities, it’s have the finest in the country,” he added. Landrigan didn’t study at an art school. He found the little learning process that continues, and time his own way by experimentation and research, kind of melts away.” During a tour of the workshop where he carves with a little advice from like-minded friends. “The stain took me years to figure out,” he said. the loons, mixes and applies stain extracted from the green husks of walnuts, and shapes basswood “But when you’re drawing with pencil, you’re planks into bread boards and two-foot-long decWOOD CARVING: Page 3 orative paddles, Landrigan returned to the theme
Landrigan says learning process is fun
Inside this issue... 2 Odd growth on a cyclamen, quackgrass in strawberries and controlling creeping Charlie 4 More tips for communicating with someone with dementia 6 Embrace the flavors of the season with Winter Fruit Salad 8 Does Medicare cover vision services?
001824043r1
By Robin Fish rfish@parkrapidsenterprise.com