by Michel Latreille (written by Susan Latreille)

For Christmas  2019 Michel made numerous hand-carved gifts for our four grandsons. For Christmas 2020 his get-up-and-go had got-up-and-went. He had no ideas and no inspiration until I spotted an article in one of his woodcarving magazines and I asked him to make this wooden trivet for our daughter-in-law.

The piece is carved on basswood about 10″ x 10″ square and about 1 1/2′ deep. The technique used is called chip-carving which is much like shallow etching. Black acrylic paint was used to contrast/highlight the edges of the trees and house, and all surfaces were covered with several layers of protective varnish. The underside has small round feet at each corner so as not to mar the tabletop.

I forgot to take photos before wrapping this Christmas gift so photo credit goes to my son, Claude Latreille.

Collectif members, send an image (or a few) of very recent work to cagac.ca@gmail.com with up to 100 words describing what you did, materials used, inspiration, etc. Maybe share how you’re feeling & how creativity helps. We’d like an informative, inspiring show & tell. Writers, send us poetry, lyrics, a short piece or excerpt.