For
all my woodcarving buddies, I'm alive and well.
Visitors
to this site, please read the text to the right.
I'm Jill E.
Ellis and I live in southwestern Ontario, Canada.
I'm a self
taught woodcarver of all types, for 36 yrs; relief, in the round,
chip, wildfowl, animals etc. I started when I was in the military,
carving the various hat badges as relief plaques for my buddies.
In 1988, I
made my first trip to the Ward Foundation World Wildfowl Championships.
What a blast!
I took two
carvings... the turkeys and the great blue heron, and received a first
with the turkeys and second with the heron.
In 1989, I
had only one carving... the egret, which took a first.
In 1990, I
again had two carvings. Blue footed boobies and the long billed marsh
wren. The boobies took a first as did the wren, and the wren also
took best miniature overall.
A few months
after the 1990 show I was a passenger in an auto accident, which ruined
my right hand and wrist. Clipped 'my wing' so to speak.
Not to be one
to sit and feel sorry for myself, I decided to switch hands and become
a left handed carver.
For the next
5 years I underwent 5 operations to try to give me back my right hand.
These operations were somewhat successful. I have no feeling in my
right hand and they removed an inch from the end of my ulna. What
I did not get back was my pinch grip. So using my right hand now is
like wearing an oven glove to do things. Give it a try, and you will
see.
I made a left
handed carving of a miniature bald eagle and entered that in the 1995
Ward World show.....and received a third. It took me two years to
finish, as I was training my left hand during this time.
And again in
1997 I entered the yellow headed blackbird and received a third.
Not bad considering
the odds of even getting a ribbon at the Ward World Wildfowl Championship
show.
To train my
left hand for carving, I used ostrich eggs which were readily available
near me. I practiced sculpting these ostrich eggs to gain the dexterity
in my left hand. This opened up a whole new field of carving for me
which I enjoy immensly.
I have been
back teaching since 1996, small two to three student groups.
Being able
to use my left hand now for carving has opened up a whole new world
for me. I teach a young fellow who has cerebral palsy and not much
use of his right hand. This gave me the ability to teach this fellow
that there is nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it. You
just have to find a way.
This young
fellow, has done chip carving, made a duck and for the past couple
of years has learned to build his own furniture.
I teach six
classes a week.
We do all types
of carving so that some day my students will settle into a style which
they like the most and continue to explore and expand their talents.
I teach with
humour. Showing my students that carving can and is fun.
I strongly
believe that if one has the basics of carving, then they can carve
just about anything. They are only limited by their imagination.
