VOA标准英语2012--Artist Uses Special Skills to Create Wood 'Fan Birds'（在线收听）

Artist Uses Special Skills to Create Wood 'Fan Birds'

艺术家专注于木制小鸟传统技艺

Cedar fan birds are not considered fine art, but still they require skill and artful hands. The birds carved from wood have deep roots in Europe of the past when men, traveling far from home, sat around at night, carving and telling stories.

Jeff Jacobs has been a carpenter for more than 30 years. Now, he spends much of his time on his hobby: carving birds from a block of wood without a drop of glue. A Michigan logger taught him how to do it 25 years ago.

杰夫?雅各布斯从事木匠工作已经超过30年。现在,他在其爱好上倾注了自己的大部分时间:不使用一滴胶水用一块木头雕琢成鸟类。密歇根州的一位伐木工在25年前教会了他制作方法。

Jacobs requires a few things: wet wood, mostly white cedar; a good initial cut of the bird’s profile; patient carving that gives shape to what look like feathers and then, his least favorite part - sanding. After sanding, he concentrates on the feathers.

雅各布斯需要下面的一些东西:湿木,大多是白色的雪松,一份要雕刻的鸟类详细资料；而细心雕刻赋予其看起来像羽毛形状一样,然后就到了他最喜欢的部分—磨光。在这道工序之后,他就开始专注于羽毛。 

“This is the critical part, this is where you realize you got a nice bird or you wasted your time,” said Jacobs. 

“这是至关重要的部分,这个部分你能知道自己是拥有了一只很好的鸟还是你白白浪费了自己大好光阴。”雅各布斯说道。

As many as 50 slices of wood could emerge from a small block. But before the slices become feathers, Jacobs wets the wood for at least an hour.

多达50块木头薄片可能仅仅从一小块木头当中雕刻出。但是在这些薄片成为羽毛前,雅各布斯要用至少一个小时的时间浸湿它。

Once it's soaked, he begins to fan the wings and weave them. If there are enough slices, Jacobs will make a tail. Once the bird is dry, Jacobs dips it in lacquer.

一旦浸湿后,他开始进行翅膀的雕琢并进行编制组合。如果有足够的薄片,雅各布斯就会制作尾巴。而一旦鸟开始变干,雅各布斯则会将其浸在天然漆中。

Jacobs takes the birds to flea markets where he explains the process of making traditional fan birds and he sells each one for about $50.

雅各布斯会将这些鸟带到跳蚤市场,他在那里解释其传统的制作过程并以每只鸟大概是50美元的价格出售。

While other artists produce larger birds, flowers and figures, Jacobs sticks with small birds, mostly hummingbirds. Although he's made several hundred, he's still intent on making more - making them perfect and able to fly… well almost.

就在其他艺术家制作更大的鸟、花朵和图案时,雅各布斯专注于小鸟,大多是蜂鸟的制作。尽管经他手已经诞生了几百只,但他还有意制作更多—好像要使这些鸟完美的能够翱翔天际。