Saami the Reindeer is Shaping Up

In August, 2010 we received news that the carver for Saami had stepped down. Work on Saami came to a standstill. Dick and I decided to visit the carousel carving studio over the week-end to see if carving had resumed. We were delighted to find that progress had taken place, and we met the new carver, Terrye. We have some great photos of Terrye at work on Saami.











The head is taking shape as well.


Young visitors can choose a line drawing of one of the carousel animals to color. We were happy to see a colored drawing of Saami done by Madison posted on the wall.


Here is the drawing of Sampson the rooster:

and the progress on Sampson:


Sally the Swiss cow is coming along nicely:


Details of the floral decorations:

and a front view:



Sir Hugo Page the griffin is progressing nicely,


Check out the claws.


Sir Adrian Chapman has been returned to the carving area from painting to have some repair work done:


and a detail shot:


As usual, the painting area is bustling. Several of the animals whose progress we have been documenting are now being painted. Taffy, the alpaca is shown below.


And Neal, the greyhound is done!


Now that progress on Saami has resumed, we'll visit more often.

Saami the Reindeer in One Piece

It had been nearly eight months since we had visited the carving studio. We had a grand surprise, seeing Saami, our reindeer, upright for the first time. She is vertical, supported by the stand and her front legs are attached. Yeah.


Jack, the head carver, attached her back legs, neck and head so we could take a photo.


Saami had her first rider - our grand daughter Mariah who just had her 11th birthday. What a great sight is was to see her on the reindeer.


Saami is the name for the Laplanders of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola peninsula of Russia whose best-known livelihood is reindeer herding. We wanted our reindeer's name to reflect our Scandinavian roots.


A second big surprise was the section of the Rounding Board on display. It looks stunning.



Here's a fun image of some of the carved heads.


We peeked into the warehouse where the new platform is being built. Here's the latest image:


Several new animals have been started since our last visit. Here's Geno the Orca whale:




And below is Timber, the bulldog, sponsored by alumni of Albany Union High School.


We saw great progress of some of the animals. Below is Taz, the black buck antelope with its fabulous horns.


Peace, the lioness, is below. In the background you can see the baby lamb who will be at her feet.

Peace's profile is a mirror image of the drawing of the head posted on the wall behind it.

Progress since our last visit is evident on Sally the Swiss cow below:

Buster the pony has a saddle blanket laden with memories. It looks nearly ready for final sanding.

Several animals whose progress we have followed are being painted. Taffy the alpaca is below:

Hope the giraffe, below, is finished being painted. After the paint cures, she will receive her clear coat.

Mariah took a ride on Lightning, one of the three finished animals on display:


and on Munchie the Lhasa Apso


and on the zebra.

Sunday Christmas Tour Open House

Today the Brass Ring Carousel was open for visitors as part of the Albany Christmas Parlour Tour. No progress has been made on the reindeer, but we took photos of some of the other animals.

Taffy the alpaca's head is in place:


A drawing of King, the lion, is below:


The blocks for King have been assembled and it is in the early stage of carving. One side shows the blocks with very little carving done yet.


Here's a close up of the block side of King's head:



Here's the side of King the lion showing progress on the carving:


Below is Hope, the giraffe, who has had primer coats, and is now getting her spots.


The painting of Kalapuya is coming along.

December 2, 2009 Visit

Mariah and I visited the carving studio after school today. It doesn't look like any work has been done on the reindeer. There are many animals in various stages of caring and painting. We'll post photos of a few of the animals.

The blocks for Sampson the rooster have arrived.

Here's the drawing of Sampson:


Below is the armored horse named Sir Adrian Chapman:


and a close up view showing some details:


Here is the drawing of Sir Adrian Chapman:


There's a unicorn named Marcy in progress:


and a black buck antelope whose native territory is India. This carousel black buck is named Taz. The sponsor for Taz raises black buck antelope in Albany so there are lots of live models for the carver to view the animal's anatomy.

Here's a close up of carving details on Taz:


Taffy the alpaca's carved head was shown on our summer visit blog. Here's the drawing of the alpaca:


and here's a detail shot of the roses in progress:



The little lamb that will stand with Peace the Lioness is sporting a muffler now that it's winter. The lamb in an earlier stage of carving was also shown on our summer visit blog.


Daisy, the little elephant was shown on November 18 without her head. Here she is with her head in place.


Below is a close up of Daisy's head.



Here's a photo of the painting progress on a line up of animals in the painting area: