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Bob uses fire as a complement to carving and painting his wood sculptures. The dragon emerges from the flames with no structural damage, but with a dark, rich patina that later shows through a thin application of oil paint. \u201cBurning makes a carving appear worn and aged, like it has been handled and used a lot,\u201d Bob said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a quality I like. I want them to be handled. I want people to feel the form and texture. It involves a sense other than vision.\u201d<\/p>\n It is something of a miracle that Bob sculpts wood at all. In 1965 he was a college student majoring in business. He and some friends were heading off on a weekend trip one rainy Friday night, when the car went out of control and struck a culvert, and Bob’s spine was snapped. Barely out of his teens, Bob faced months of rehabilitation and a future in a wheelchair. However, the accident seemed to kindle some latent spark of independence in Bob. Rather than giving in to the physical limitation, he uses it as motivation. He completed rehab, moved back home, and began running the family\u2019s farm supply business, expanding it to include greenhouses, ornamental plants, and garden tools.<\/p>\n\n\n Bob lives on Hunting Creek on Virginia\u2019s Eastern Shore near the Chesapeake Bay. He began carving 20 years ago when he began collecting antique hunting decoys. Bob enjoys the weathered patina of old decoys, and attempts to replicate it in modern carvings. Bob admits that early in his career he used the wheelchair to get noticed and to stand out from the legion of bird carvers who attended the art shows and carving competitions. \u201cIt helped people remember me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Now the 60-year-old carver spends 10 to 12 hours a day carving, despite being diagnosed with Parkinson\u2019s disease nine years ago. The additional physical setback seems to have made him even more driven to carve. \u201cWith the Parkinson\u2019s, it\u2019s like blinders on a horse\u2014I can\u2019t deviate from the straight and narrow,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how much longer I\u2019m going to be able to do this, so I\u2019m very focused on it now.\u201d<\/p>\n Bob studied with the noted decoy-maker Mark McNair, who uses fire as part of an aging process, and Bob adapts the process for his own work. \u201cMark uses fire on a very limited basis in his work, but I use it extensively,\u201d Bob said. \u201cI burn the raw carving with stained mineral spirits to provide a base color of aged wood. And then I burn the oil paint as I apply it to darken and enrich the color. Finally, I scrub the carving with soap and water, and that removes any burn residue and thins the paint enough to let some of the aged wood show through.\u201d<\/p>\n While Bob\u2019s early interest in woodcarving reflects his passion for antique hunting decoys, his work has evolved to cover a wide range of subjects, from the dramatic to the whimsical. In his studio overlooking Hunting Creek you will see a carving of a peregrine falcon with a dying shorebird in its talons. You also will find a carving of a cow jumping over the moon, a carved cat with moving joints sitting on the edge of a shelf, and several carvings of dragons.<\/p>\n Bob\u2019s general procedure is to apply paint to an area, burn the paint, and buff it with a bristle brush. He uses Ronan brand oil paints, which are very concentrated, dense paints used in the sign-painting business. Bob applies the paints with worn brushes, blending the colors on the carving.<\/p>\n Bob is also very careful to only light the carvings on fire over a concrete floor with no combustibles near it. Use common sense if you use any of his techniques\u2014fire can be very dangerous.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/woodcarving.zeeframes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/WEB-STROPTALK-Issue-10-Bob-Swain-Photo.jpg\")
<\/a>Bob Swain spends days carving an intricate dragon from 10 separate pieces of white cedar. Finally, with the pieces assembled, the form takes shape. The head is high and alert, the body curves in a graceful arc, the wings and crest sweep back as though the dragon is moving at great speed. Bob turns the piece from side to side, and reaches for a well-worn paintbrush. He soaks the brush in dirty mineral spirits, douses the carving, lights a wooden kitchen match, and in seconds the dragon is ablaze.<\/p>\n<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\tUsing Fire to Finish a Carving<\/b><\/h3>\n
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\n <\/a>\u00a0<\/a><\/td>\nStep 1:<\/strong> Apply dirty paint thinner to the carving, and light it on fire. The paint thinner burns away and creates an \u201cinstant patina\u201d that will show through thin layers of paint.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \u00a0 <\/a><\/td>\nStep 2:<\/strong> Apply white Ronan paint diluted with mineral spirits. Bob uses thin washes of paint so texture and some wood color can show through.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \u00a0 <\/a><\/td>\nStep 3:<\/strong> Carefully set the paint on fire. When the fire burns out buff the carving with a coarse brush.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \u00a0 <\/a><\/td>\nStep 4:<\/strong> Add raw sienna to the white. Apply this to the face of the bird. Then light this on fire.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/a><\/td>\nStep 5:<\/strong> Paint the bill with Van Dyke brown mixed with a small amount of raw umber. Add a little raw umber to the mix and paint the sides of the bird.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \u00a0 <\/a><\/td>\nStep 6:<\/strong>\u00a0 Carefully light the bird on fire once you are satisfied with the painting. This gives the carving an aged look.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/a><\/td>\nStep 7:<\/strong>\u00a0 Add texture and feather patterns. Dab a stick into a can of Van Dyke brown and press the stick onto the bird to create an irregular line. Then tie a small piece of sandpaper around a pencil, creating a U-shape. Dip the sandpaper into the paint and transfer the paint to the bird. Be sure to have the closed end of the \u201cU\u201d to the back.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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