Please join us for an all-members program where master woodcarver Fredy Huaman Mallqui will share some stories about his career as a carver, starting as a young apprentice in Peru to his variety of recent commissions. He will then reveal his sharpening technique (utilizing sandpaper, leather, and abrasive compound) for carving gouges.
[Important Note: If you’re registered to take the weekend workshop you MUST attend this Friday night session, as sharpening technique information will not be repeated during the workshop.]
We will have plenty of leather, abrasive paste, and sandpaper for everyone to try their hand using Fredy’s techniques, and you’ll leave with your leather strop and some sandpaper to continue your efforts at home. Bring in a carving gouge that has been put aside because it just doesn’t cut, or even one that you think is finely honed, to see if Fredy’s technique can get that gouge to a new level of sharpness. (If you have a gouge that is so beat up, maybe used as a paint can opener, you might want to at least grind the bevel to remove the major nicks.) Even if you’re not interested in the hands-on sharpening session, come for the lecture, camaraderie, and to learn by watching your fellow members try out this technique.
About the Presenter
Fredy Huaman Mallqui
Fredy moved to the United States from Ayacucho, Peru in Spring 2012 carrying his wood carving tools that served as extensions of his own hands and his design philosophy. Fredy also brought with him the most precious tools: sensibility, creativity, skills, and expertise that he has accumulated since he started his woodcarving profession at the age of nine. His carving pieces are not just merely decorative pieces, they are intricate pieces of art. Exquisitely detailed and of the highest quality of craftsmanship.
Fredy’s work demonstrates his learning throughout the years from several master carvers, as well as the development and mastery of his own techniques of designing and hand carving unique pieces of art. Trained by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture in the conservation of diverse objects of art, Fredy worked conserving historical art pieces, dating from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries in Peru.
See more of Fredy’s work on his website or on his Instagram page