Each day will start with the academics of sign carving and should only be about half an hour. Questions are invited but most will be answered throughout the days carving. They have a little book made up for this class that is also available for $10.00 and will be most helpful for this occasion and for future sign carving projects.

Bill & Isa will bring blanks for the jobs that should take only one day. They will range from $7.00 to $15.00 per blank. The size ranges from 6” x 10” up to 12” x 18” in different shapes. The price will include a computer generated lettering pattern. Each carver must have their own tools. They suggest a ½” or 3/8” and other size vee and round gouge, sharp knives, leather strop, sand paper and other finishing necessities. Remember if your doing large letters you may want larger tools, and smaller sign letters smaller tools. (Kind of common sense.) They bring the Water Base Acrylics and brushes for you, but if you have a special brush or brushes of your own bring those too. They have power sanders for finishing and saws if a shape change is desirable. Remember, the idea is to keep it simple and have the sign carved in one day. Each day will start a new class and will be the same routine. Now, lets just carve, and have fun !

Bill and Isa Hastings have been doing signs for nearly 30 years. They had a large Screen Printing factory which has now been reduced to just the two of them doing Specialty signs, as well as countless vinyl cut and back lighted signs. Sometime ago they moved into hand carved signs because of public demand. Few people knew they could obtain excellent quality and have it last a long time. Bill and Isa got involved in hand carved signs more by accident than on purpose, but it has been going very well and the demand for their carved signs is growing. If you want to keep customers happy you have to keep ahead of the market demand

Bill spent many years overseas in the Oil and Gas Pipeline construction and coating business in Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Middle East. There are "tricks" in preserving underground or offshore pipelines from rust & corrosion. After many years of pipe coating/painting, we know how to preserve steel pipelines and carved wooden signs too. And that’s the trick! ! We will help each student learn these tricks. (We supply the paint and the TRICKS.)

Bill & Isa are both very involved in the Sunrise Wood Carvers in Oscoda Michigan, and do several shows around Michigan. They will attend a round up in the Florida in March of 2008 as well as the Evart, MI., Roundup in June ’07 and the Spit and Whittle in September 2007.

Floyd has won numerous awards including the CCA Special Award in Dayton Ohio and recently a first place ribbon at the 2004 National CCA Competition. He teaches woodcarving classes all around the country including Michigan Woodcarving Seminars, Oscoda; Creative Woodcarving Seminar, Cadillac, MI in June each year; Woodcarvers Roundup, Evart, MI June each year; and NorthEast Woodcarvers Roundup, Honesdale, PA July each year. Floyd is looking forward to carving with new and old friends at the first Florida Roundup. Floyd will be teaching every day of the roundup.

Floyd has many blanks available which range in price from $8 TO $20. Generally 1 or 2 projects can be completed in a day. Floyd uses knives and palm gouges. Floyd will discuss his painting techniques and if there is time will do a painting demo one day. He uses watred down acrylic paints. Floyd is a 2007 inductee to the CARICATURE CARVERS OF AMERICA, Floyd was featured on the covers of all three major woodcarving magazines and took Best of Show, First and Second at the 2006 Caricature Carvers of America Show held at Dollywood, Pigeon Forge, TN. See several of his other carvings at his website

His background is in Architecture, art and stone and his unique style of fantasy architecture is reflected in his bark carvings. The workshop always promise's to be interesting. A description and pictures of the Whimsical House class project can be seen by clicking on the Whimsical House Tony has bark or blanks available in the $25 range. This year Tony will also be offering Basswood Houses and a Bobble Head Santa project in a basswood blank in a semi flat plane style using a knife. Check the schedule to see which days these classes will be offered. Tony spends the winters in Florida and summers in New Hampshire and is available for seminars in your local area, contact Tony at tonyjerickson@yahoo.com or anton@woodakoodashooda.com See several of his other carvings at his website

Jim winters in Florida and Grand island NY in the summer. He is available for seminars in your local area. Contact Jim at jeodea@aol.com with questions.

He will cover safety and use of the machines he sells as well as the general care and use of all machines. Contact Pat at PODEA2220@aol.com to discuss the class and your interest in power carving. Pat lives in Florida and is available for classes in your local area. Blanks range up to $15.

The cypress knees lend themselves to such figures as wood spirits, Old World Santas, traditional Santas, wizards, elves, sorceresses, green men, animals, etc., and are limited only by your imagination. You can choose a cypress knee for a particular figure you want to do, or choose a knee you like and let the shape of the knee suggest the figure. Barbara will help you find the figure in the knee if you wish. Some woodcarving experience is helpful, but imagination and enthusiasm for the project will go a long way. We use knives, gouges and V-tools, and all tools need to be sharp as the cypress knee is fairly soft. Hair, beards, and mustaches can be carved with a small gouge or V-tool, or woodburned for a different look. The instructor will have a woodburner available. A small cypress knee can be carved in a day, while the larger knees may take an additional full day to complete. Completed knees look best when sanded with the 220 gold, cloth-backed sandpaper and then finished. They can be painted with acrylics or oils, or lacquered, or finished with tung oil only. The instructor will have examples of different figures and styles and finishes.

Barbara has been carving for 36 years and been teaching carving for 31 years. She is a returning instructor for the Suwanee River Woodcarvers Roundup, the Michigan Roundup in Evart, and the Northeast Woodcarving Roundup in Pennsylvania. She has also taught at the Southeastern Woodcarving School and John C. Campbell Folk School, and will be teaching at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA in July. She is a co-founder of the Tallahassee woodcarving club, Capital City Carvers, and regularly teaches workshops for the club and for the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science. She is frequently called upon for woodcarving demonstrations. Her carvings have been shown in galleries in Tallahassee, Havana, and Quincy, Florida, and have won several ribbons at woodcarving shows. She can be contacted at carvermann@yahoo.com.

Pete, a resident of Gardner, Massachusetts, has been carving since 1973 and began showing his work in 1990. In 1994 Pete won Best of Show at the Susquehanna Decoy and Woodcarving Show in Pennsylvania, and is a two time Texas Whittling Champion in the open competition!

Pete is a member of the prestigious Caricature Carvers of America. He was inducted into CCA in September 1994. He now teaches seminars throughout the country and recently taught and lectured in the UK and Australia. He is the author of three books – “Carving Caricature Heads & Faces”, “Carving Caricature Figures from Scratch” and "Carving A Caricature Bust". Pete also contributed to the book “Carving the Full Moon Saloon” and “Carving the Circus”. Materials for the class will be $10

Pete teaches in a very structured manner, step by step. Thus to get the full benefit of the class students must be there at the start and stay thru the end of the class.

Pete recommends (but not required) : #9 sweep -5mm (Swiss gouge); #11-3mm (Swiss gouge); #9-3/8" (Harmen or Ramulson gouge); #7-1/2" (Harmen or Ramulson gouge).Pete will have several extras of these recommended gouges with him for the students to use during the class

Carl Borst lives in Schenectady, N.Y. and began carving in 1991 at the age of 58. His only regret is that he did'nt start sooner. He is basically self taught although he did attend three seminars, one with Peter Ortel, one with Dave Sabol and one with Jeff Phares. He has never been one to copy others work or to use patterns from "how to carve books". He encourages his students to be creative and try to get movement in their work and to use photos for their patterns.

Soon after he started carving he found other carvers who had been at it longer than he, were asking him to help them. This made him realize that he enjoyed teaching also. In 1993 the editor at "Chip Chats" asked him if he would like to contribute his original patterns to the magazine. Since then he has been featured in numerous articles in "Chip Chats", his patterns have been on the back cover three times and most recently, his "Carousel Raccoon" was on the front cover in the 2007 May - June issue. Carl has been teaching at Honesdale every year since we started and gets great satisfaction from helping carvers at all levels. He has been doing seminars and judging various wood carving events around the Northeast, plus also gives "one on one classes" in his studio and group classes at various clubs. Although he accepts most any kind of commission, he has specialized in the human form both in caricature and realistic focusing on the human head. His caricatures usually tell a story and always lean toward the humorous side. The humor spills over into his classes so be prepared to laugh if you sign up for one of his classes.

Bill Ritchie * Painting on wood (bring your carved piece and we will paint it). He will also have plaques, signs and boxes and carvings. Paints and brushes furnished, The only charge will be for blanks.