A lot of time has passed

I just wanted to drop a quick update as it has been quite some time since I've been able to do much and I'm sure many have wondered how things are going.

Many know that my wife was diagnosed with cancer in August of 2010 and since then I've been focusing on her and her needs. In the midst of all this, my mom was also diagnosed with cancer about the same time. She passed away near the end of January this past year (2011), so there was that taking my mind away from things during that time frame.

Then my wife's dad started having problems and needed help. During May and June we both went over from time to time to care for him and my wife's mom. I was placed in charge of there estate and there care. By the end of June he passed away and we then decided to move Kate's mom in with us to care for. This required me taking care of there estate and getting everything in order.

During this same time my wife (Kate) was fighting infections left and right and started going down again. Near the end of Sept. she passed away. This left me with another close loss to try and deal with along with taking care of her mom and now two estates to get in order.

The rest of the year was spent getting the estates in order, selling the in-laws home and most of there odds and ends. I was still taking care of her for as long as I was able. Later in the year (November time frame), she was noticeably worse as far as mental and physical strength. After some research I determined she had advanced with her dementia. By January this was confirmed by our doctor. She had evolved to moderate to extreme state of dementia and requiring me placing her in a memory care facility close to her family in the Portland area. My taking care of her was a 24/7 job not allowing me any time for myself nor my work.

I just completed moving her into a great place that can handle her progression without needing to move her again. I am now back home with some catching up to do on the personal matters, but will soon be getting my life back in order and yes, getting back to work and creating new sculptures again.

Some might be asking if I will be going back to Worlds this year. I made that decision this week with the help of the Ward Foundation notifying me that they would like me to judge this year. I might not have anything to compete with this year, but I will at least get back there and start getting my juices flowing again. I will look forward to seeing everyone again and catching up on the finer parts of life.

As I progress I will be posting more. Thanks for your patients and understanding during this past year and some odd months.

Jerry...

A site for Kate

Hello everyone. It has been awhile since I've been able to get out to my blog. As you can imagine, my time has been spent taking care of Kate in a variety of forms over the past few months. In order to aid the communication of her status I went to a site called CarringBridge and created a link for Kate. From this site we will be able to do journal entries which should be a much better and timely means of keeping people updated.

Here is the link: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kateparkin

You will be able to select email notification so anytime we create a journal entry you will be able to get an email with that entry.

Soon I hope to get back out on this site with informative posts and even continue where we left off with that Kestrel project.

Thanks and I hope you had a great Christmas and I wish you a Happy New Year.

Jerry...

Latest News - Home Front

Hello everyone,

It has been awhile since many of you have heard from me. Things have been quite busy and hectic this year. Well, things just became much more hectic and I wanted to let everyone know what is going on.

Over the past month Kate had been in and out of the doctors, etc. As of Wednesday of this week, we finally received enough information and specifics to know what is going on. Unfortunately it's not good news.

She was diagnosed with stomach cancer (poorly differentiated signet cell adenocarcinoma). This is a difficult form of cancer that has 0% cure rate. It is currently in stage 4.

On Monday she went into the Hospital due to her kidneys being blocked so stints were put in to see if that will get them flowing again normally. I was able to bring her home yesterday (Thursday). Currently she is resting and hanging out on the coach. Still low on energy and strength. I'm watching over her pretty much all day. Monday we go in and check the kidneys to find out if they are continuing to improve or not. If not, we will be looking at another option (placing tubes in the back). This will then allow full function again.

Once the kidneys are back in proper form, she can then start Chemo treatments. If we have to go with the tubes in the back, it will be a couple weeks before we can start Chemo. Chemo is the only option at this point to give her some time. Surgery is not possible unless we see a reduction in the cancer which only Chemo will be able to do if it can. It will be about 2-3 months after the start of Chemo before we know if the treatment is having any positive impact on the cancer.

That's the latest situation as I know it today. It is my main focus right now until we can get Kate back on her feet. Sorry that I haven't been able to let you know in person or via phone.

Please don't hesitate to pass this along to other friends, family, etc. as I may not have everyone covered. I hate to cut this short, but I at least wanted to get this out while I had a moment.

Thanks, Jerry...

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Update - Quick Status

As you may have noticed, I've been out of communication for awhile. I was tied up taking care of Kate (my wife) as she tore her rotator cuff back in Feb. and had to have surgery in April. She was in the sling for six weeks after surgery which meant she couldn't do anything. She just got out of the sling which means she can start doing Physical Therapy. It will take some months yet to get back to full speed, but she is starting to work on the mobility and strength. This means I can get back to my work and eventually get to full speed as well.

Over the next three months I will be working on a life size hawk which has to be completed by the first of September. During this time I might end up out of communication mode yet again. However, I will try and pick up where I left off on the Kestrel project along with some other topics that I started awhile back.

Until the next posting...

Competition - Harlequin Drake Decoy

This year I wasn't able to make it back east to the Ward World Championships. However, I was able to get a bird back there through the aid of a local friend/carver (Andrew Speer). Because I couldn't attend and hand carry or deliver my latest greatest pieces I decided to send a nice decoy. The one I did during the Spokane class back in January and March. This being the Harlequin Drake decoy which you can see a couple posts down on this page.

Turned out this bird competed quite well back east. It took best in species (other divers - Harlequin) in contemporary decoys. I'm pleased with this result given the fact it wasn't painted to the highest level of detail that would be needed for the CD category.

The bonus to this bird was the fact it was also entered into a show over in Havre de Grace the weekend after worlds. It had to go into the smoothie category as it was too fancy for a working decoy. In smoothie it took best in species and second best diver. Again, I couldn't be happier with this result. Under the smoothie category it wasn't painted with the highest level of detail one would expect for that category.

I consider myself fortunate to have placed at both of these shows given the fact I didn't do a bird specifically for any given category or competition. The most important thing was doing a bird I really wanted to do for myself (aside from it being a class project). Even if it happens to fall in the middle of the pack as far as detail or lack of detail didn't matter. I have a great bird for my mantle and eventually it will end up on someones mantle to enjoy for many years.

New Release - American Kestrel in Pine

I finished this American Kestrel male this past weekend. This project was one that took place over a number of months with other projects causing it to be placed on hold numerous times. It felt really good to finish him up. It was extra special given that I was able to place the bird on a pine branch presentation.

Originally it was going to be placed on a dead stand which would have been similar to the other Kestrel presentations I've done. The owner saw the Saw-whet piece I did for worlds last year and asked if we could put him in a pine setting. This allowed me the opportunity to explore a concept I've had for sometime now with a broken topped pine tree. I have a couple trees on my property that have broken tops and viewing these trees over the years has always given me the idea of placing a bird up there. The Kestrel was a perfect carving to play with this idea.

Not only exploring the compositional elements, but also playing with new ideas for pedestals. This one used a piece of Butternut with a natural stain to show off the grain of the wood while the color of the wood would work well with the sculpture. Also, I wanted a wood that would tie in well with the Kestrels color a bit more. That turned out to be Cherry wood. I also liked the idea of placing a black spacer in-between the wood blocks to add a touch of class to the piece, yet not overpower it.

One thing I found with these tall presentation sculptures is the need for a solid base. If the base is too narrow it is easily knocked over. I have always loaded the pedestal with lead, but it would still have a sense of instability if bumped just right. So, with this pedestal presentation I widened the base with each layer of wood in addition to the lead weighting. The combination was perfect as this piece has no sense of instability at all. I will be using this design again for other tall sculpture presentations.

To see additional photos of this bird please visit my New Release page on my website http://www.simchuk.com/19601.html

New Release - Harlequin Drake Decoy

As promised, I finally have a chance to post my latest Harlequin Drake Decoy. This is the bird I did in the class I taught in Spokane on both the carving and painting back in January and early March.

I really enjoyed doing this class as it is one of my favorite waterfowl. I'm lucky enough to be in an area where I get to see this bird in the spring while they are inland during the breading season. Up in Glacier National Park we can see them swimming around the glacial waters while they are feeding.

This bird is functional and is ready to hunt over or more likely go in the tank for competition purposes.

To see more photos of this bird go to my New Release page on my website http://www.simchuk.com/19601.html