Day One of the Competition

The competition was a amazingly well run and a pure pleasure. It started on Saturday May 31 with a free carving in the morning. Here's what I carved sans the flowers.




"The Bear" now resides at the Toei Chainsaw Art Club. Please visit.

Around noon the carvers gathered to hear inspirational words from the mayor and other dignitaries of the area. They were my kind of speeches short but meaningful. I was given a copy of the speeches written in English. The one line I like stated we were to do our best in this competition, bring all of our skills and try to surpass them in this competition. It was a rather serious part of the comp.









Saturday Afternoon we carved funtional item that was auction off to support the event. I carved a dove chair and Ross carved a Buddha Bear Bench. I have no picture of the chair but here's Squirrel's bench.



and here is a funtional item from a gentlemen named Goro who is a famous Japanese print maker and a truly wonderful dude. It is wearable...



So by the end of the carving Day on Saturday I had figured out a few things. One strange saws in a strange land are awkward and require special attention. Two Japanese cedar is softer than any wood I have ever carved and if you sneeze while cutting it you will over cut your mark. Three I really like having an anouncer saying my name while I carve(Did I just type that?) Four Japanese carvers are hungery for a good competition and good comeradery. And finally, Brian Ruth can eat more raw fish than any one (thus he was nicknamed "the walrus" by Ross) and can performance carver like a crazy man.

Saturday was Brian's 50th B-day. He entertained the crowd by carving a crane while the Toei Tyko drummers played. A lone flute started playing. Then the drummers started banging and the first saw started. There were chips flying and drummers drumming.





Then what is this!!!



I know it hard to see but that's a saw in each hand. After carving with two saws for atleast fifteen minutes, he complete's the heron with a cut between the upper and lower beak. He drops the saw and starts drumming. Crazy. Happy Fiftieth Brian.

Here are some photo's from the party that night. Goro, Ross and another carver.