(Click to view... 79KB)Seven years ago, Japanese-American George Ishimaru attended the Coos County Fair in Myrtle Point, Ore., for the first time. In his wanderings, he happened upon the art and crafts exhibit and saw the displays of paintings, sketchings, photographs, and especially the woodcarvings. He was captivated by the carved display.
After seeing the many carvings, he signed up for classes in Coquille, then later transferred to the Senior Woodcarvers in North Bend, Ore. George returned to the Coos County Fair in August, 1998, with one of his latest woodcarving creations depicting a Japanese Samurai with drawn bow, riding his horse in pursuit of the enemy. No longer does George envy the carvings of others.
He creates his carvings after studying books and drawings. He will sketch in the rough how things should look, then draw to full scale the subject to be carved. At times, he packs his camera to shoot photos of live subjects. In this case he took a series of pictures of horses to study shape and muscle.
The Samurai and horse is carved from basswood. The colors painted were done with acrylic, dry brushed. He chose the dry brush method in order to bring out the fine details of the gold helmet and the intricate design of the armor.
The Samurai won him best-of-show and a blue ribbon at the fair.