How to make patterns on birch bark. Birch bark lace. Products of Domsha craftsmen were presented at all major exhibitions of that time, along with Vologda lace, Shemogod carving, Ustyansk horn
Birch bark is the bark of a birch tree that is unique natural material... Lovely birch - decoration of Russian forests, the personification of youth and chastity
Among the endless vast world of plants on Earth, only birch has a snow-white bark.
The birch bark has a peculiar structure. Its surface layer is highlighted in white.
It is followed by the thinnest numerous yellowish layers that make up the so-called birch bark - a durable, flexible material that does not give in to decay, a unique natural formation. 
These properties made birch bark one of the most vital materials for humans. They drove black tar from birch bark, got along with light boats, roofing for huts,
weaved sandals and waders, jackets and caps, bottles and inkpots, horns and pipes that caress the ear.
In specially made tues and boxes, liquid substances were stored - milk, sour cream, cedar oil, various animal fat, honey, salted fish and much more. 
A birch bark canteen is like a thermos: sour cream does not sour in them, the fish does not freeze in winter, and does not spoil in the heat.
All these products could be stored indefinitely, because birch bark has excellent bactericidal properties. It is no coincidence that the air in a birch forest is several times more sterile than in an operating room. The seams in the products were sealed so tightly that they did not let moisture through.
Bags, clothes, shoes were made of specially processed birch bark,
which in their qualities are not inferior to leather products.
In ancient times in Russia, birch bark was used in large quantities
for writing. The writings of the ancient Novgorodians have been well preserved to this day - birch bark letters that brought to us the pictures of the life of that distant time.
Birch bark is one of the most poetic materials of folk decorative
applied arts. Like clothes, it reliably protects the tree
from various adversities. In the spring, on bright sunny days, snow-white
the bark reflects the scorching rays of the luminary. Autumn birch bark "cloak"
protects the trunk from moisture, putrefactive microbes,
in winter - from bitter frosts.
The craftsmen of many provinces were engaged in the production of products from birch bark. Slotted birch bark was used to decorate art products.
Each large center for the production of birch bark products developed their own techniques for decorating things, which often used patterns, ornaments with images of birds and plants.
The master performs all kinds of birch bark products with the finest carving and embossing, in combination they are harmonious. Skillfully varying patterns, he makes each object seem to sound in its own way.
Birch bark is a very warm material. Even in a cold room, it is warm to the touch, because it has a lot of positive energy.
Very often you hear from women for a long time working on a computer that the birch bark rim relieves fatigue, and often normalizes pressure.
Each product is unique.
Products made of birch bark are very beautiful - their soft charm with a touch of Russian antiquity makes people gravitate towards such items with all their hearts ...
Slotted carving on birch bark. Master Class
Many people who start working with birch bark are wondering: how to make a slotted thread
First, we need a joint knife and a feather knife as the main knives. These are the main knives and we will use them most often. Professional craftsmen usually use only a feather knife at all.
We also need a set of chisels for wood carving.
Since I used to study woodcarving at Tatyanka, I have such a set of chisels in stock.
We also need an awl. The main thing in working with birch bark is to prevent the awl from scratching it, so give yourself a couple to work with birch bark and blunt / round off a little.
We need first-class, high-quality birch bark for the slotted thread. With a jamb knife, it is necessary to remove all growths and stratify the birch bark, removing the white layer. As we remember, birch bark is compressed layers of the thinnest outer bark, so delamination will pass easily.
Getting started
The first thing we need to do is prepare the drawing that we will cut out. To do this, it is enough to print the necessary drawing on the printer, attach it to the birch bark and with an awl (which is why you need a rounded awl), carefully circle the drawing, not pressing hard on the drawing, so that the outline remains on the birch bark.
Exquisite carving. Slotted holes in the form of circles, ovals, half-moon, and rhombuses in combination with various colored lining formed an ornament characteristic of each region and region.
The word "ornament" comes from the Latin ornamentum - "decoration". It is a pattern made up of rhythmically ordered elements. Ornamental patterns are often built according to the principles of symmetry, and motives and images are stylized and generalized.
The decorative beginning of the ornament is combined with the meaning. Already in the Paleolithic and Neolithic times, man created the first geometric ornament, consisting of zigzags, crosses, circles and straight lines. These drawings reflected the whole world around a person: heaven, earth, water, the universe. Later, animal and plant ornaments appeared, in which stylized patterns, creating a kind of letter (pictogram), passed on from generation to generation the story of the life of our ancestors.
The difference in natural conditions led to the fact that each nation created its own ornamental language.But following the canon of national ornament, the masters included elements in the patterns that convey the originality and color of their area. For example, people living in the northern, wooded, regions of Russia preferred to use Christmas trees in the ornament, and the inhabitants of the Far North - deer, Kyrgyz and Kazakhs - horns of rams, and the peoples of the Caucasus - bunches of grapes, various fruits.
Not only the pattern, but also the color has always played an important role in the ornament. So, for example, in the Chinese, red means south, black means north, green means east, white means west, yellow means center. And among the Kirghiz, blue is the sky, red is fire, yellow is the desert. Whole messages can be encrypted in ornaments. An example of such a peculiar letter is the ornament described in the work of G. W. Longfellow based on Indian folk tales - "Song of Hiawatha":
... From the bag he took out paints,
He took out paints of all colors
And on a smooth birch
Made many secret signs
_________
The white circle was a sign of life
The black circle was a sign of death;
_________
For the earth he painted
Paint a straight line
For heaven - an arc above it,
For sunrise - point to the left,
For sunset - point to the right,
And for half a day - at the top.
________
The trail towards the wigwam
Was the emblem of the invitation
A sign of a friendly feast ...
(Translated by I. Bunin)
Russian ornament is characterized by an exceptional wealth of geometric and plant forms, which is reflected not only in folk embroidery and traditional wood carving, but also in carving and painting on birch bark.
Perhaps the most remarkable is the slotted, or perforated, carving on birch bark, which is still found in the Russian North. Masters of Western Siberia decorated the boxes with images of deer antlers and birds carved from birch bark. The ornaments of the northern peoples of Russia are interesting. The pictures in this article show a variety of ornaments. You can repeat the product completely or use only the ornament.
The beauty and artistic value of a birch bark product depends largely on the technique of execution, in which skills play an important role (for example, a sharp movement of the hand during carving).
Before carving, birch bark must be well cleaned on both sides and cut to a thickness of 2 mm. Of the tools for carving, a cutter knife is used (it is sold in office supply stores and comes with a hidden blade) and a small blunt and polished awl. To mark the pattern, you need a ruler, square, compass, transfer or copy paper, a well-sharpened medium-hard pencil and an eraser. It is convenient to use pre-prepared templates for repeating patterns of the ornament.
The carving is usually done on a flat, cleanly planed plank.
The prepared birch bark is cut out according to the product templates and a pattern is applied to the blanks. First, the border is cut, and then the central part of the picture. Large parts of the drawing are necessarily cut out according to the applied office, and small ones, with a certain skill, can be cut by eye. After the entire drawing has been cut out, its main parts are engraved with an awl and a shallow cut.
To develop certain carving skills, you need to start with simple tasks and simple drawings. To do this, on strips of birch bark, prepared for carving, several parallel lines are drawn with an awl at a distance of 10 mm from each other. Inside these strips, simple shapes are cut out, first cuts 2-3 mm long and 0.3-0.5 mm wide, and then half-lunches, rhombuses, "pies" and so on, gradually complicating the pattern.
Figures 92-94 show variants of products made by the technique of slotted birch bark with a colored lining and a combination of cutting with applique (or birch bark intarsia).
If a lining of foil or colored paper is made under the birch bark, then it is first glued to the lining, and then glued to the base.
In contact with
Traditional Russian folk artistic craft carvings on birch, the fame of which was brought by the masters of the Shemogodsky volost of the Velikoustyug district of the Vologda province of Russia.
Shemogodskaya slotted birch bark is perhaps the most famous birch bark trade in Russia. He is also famous abroad. The trade got its name from the Shemoksa River, which flows into the Northern Dvina below Veliky Ustyug.
unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0By 1882, 168 people were engaged in thought in the Shemogodsky volost of the V. Ustyug district. Here is what was written in the Sketch of handicrafts of the Vologda province:
“The best borage in the village of Kurovo-Navolok. They make extremely elegant beetroots to order. "
This refers to products decorated with slotted birch bark: tuesques, dishes, glove boxes, pencil cases, travel boxes and other products. A graceful floral ornament carved by a master adorned the walls and lids of the items. Birch bark on a dark or golden background looked like an expensive material. Naturally, the products were also attractive to the buyer.
From the book "Good Trade" by A.V. Shutikhin, from the Northern birch bark site
Fishing history
In 1918, the carvers from the village of Kurovo-Navolok united into a cooperative artel (in 1935 it was renamed the Artel "Artist").
There was another artel on Shemox, created in 1934 by Nikolai Vasilyevich Veprev. It was called Solidarity. The best carvers were invited to this artel, who tried to preserve the traditions of Shemogod carving.
Box, early. XIX century. Tuyes, late 18th century & unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 During the war and post-war years, there was a carving workshop at the Shemogodskiy Furniture Factory. In 1964, production was considered economically unprofitable, both artels were closed, and the foremen were dismissed.
It took a lot of effort to restore the Shemogod carvings. This happened in 1967, when at the Kuzinsky mechanical plant»A workshop for the production of boxes, tues and other items decorated with a slotted birch was created.
Tues. Detail. XIX century. Shemogodye of the Velikoustyug district. Birch bark carving. Timing unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 After the unsuccessful "innovations" of the 1950-1960s, the fishery began to develop actively again. In 1981, the Veliky Ustyuzhskie Uzory art and production plant was created, continuing the tradition of openwork knitting.
Growing demand
In connection with in great demand the craft was constantly expanding for products. Not only men worked, but also women and children. November 21, 1908 in the village. A peasant craft school was opened in Pogorelovo.
Products with cut birch bark were mainly exported abroad. In the USA, glove boxes and cigarette machines were fashionable. France and Germany also used products from the Shemoksa River.
The 1917 revolution had little effect on the work of the craftsmen.
unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 The Soviet Republic needed a hard currency to boost the national economy. In 1918, handicraftsmen of the village of Kirovo-Navolok, at the initiative of the foreman A.V. Veprev, united into the Shemogod cooperative-production artel.
The list of manufactured products was large: handkerchiefs, glove holders, tobacco holders, caddies, work boxes, boxes with sliding lids, cigarette machines, book boxes, octagonal and pyramids.
unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 In 1928 the representative office of Gostorg proposed to sell birch bark products in Germany for 5,000 gold rubles. And in 1930, the All-Russian Union of Industrial Cooperation undertook to export birch bark products to Kustoexport for 10,000 rubles in gold.
The production of Shemogod birch bark products continued until the liquidation of industrial cooperation in 1960. Now the Veliky Ustyuzhskiye Uzory factory continues to work with birch bark.
Description
Ornaments of Shemogodsk carvers, called "Birch bark lace", were used in the manufacture of caskets, boxes, tea caddies, pencil cases, toes, dishes, plates, and cigarette cases.
unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 The Shemogod carving pattern consists, as a rule, of a creeping stem with elongated leaves and spirally twisted branches. On their tips are round rosettes, berries, shamrocks.
Often, masters introduced geometric patterns from circles, rhombuses - "gingerbread", ovals, and segments into floral ornaments. The composition was built according to the principle of clear symmetry. The drawing was completed with a border of leaves, triangles, wavy lines, mesh.
unknown, CC BY-SA 4.0 This ornament can include images of birds or animals, architectural motives, and sometimes even scenes of walking in the garden and drinking tea. Other characteristic feature of this thread are frames with geometric patterns that surround the pattern.
Shemogodskaya birch bark carving
Photo gallery
Useful information
Shemogda carving
Shemadskoe - rural settlement as part of the Velikoustyug district Vologda region, the name comes from the Shemoksa river
WHERE COULD I BUY?
You can view, select and purchase Shemogod carving products in online store "RUSSIAN CRAFTS".
I.A. Veprev
The most famous master of this craft was Ivan Afanasyevich Veprev. It was his products that gained great fame and brought fame to the Shemogod birch bark.
The master had ten medals and diplomas from various exhibitions and fairs, including the medal of the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris.
In 1882, at the All-Russian Industrial Fair, his products were awarded a prize and were completely bought by the imperial court. They were very expensive: from 5 to 13 rubles. apiece, while the earnings of the peasants who were engaged in the beetroot industry, according to F. Arseniev, was 16 rubles. for 6 winter months.
Stepan Bochkarev
The names of many talented craftsmen are associated with the history of the craft. In the State Historical Museum there are signature works of the Veliky Ustyug master Stepan Bochkarev. These are caskets and snuff-boxes of the first half of the 19th century with scenes based on the stories of Aesop's fables, with images of animals and architectural structures.
Technology
Prepared birch bark plate the main contours of the image are applied with a blunt awl. Then the pattern is cut out with a sharp knife and the background is removed. The silhouette ornament is decorated with small cuts.
The embossing is applied to the birch with the same blunt awl. After that, a plate of birch bark was glued to a product, usually made of soft wood (aspen), sometimes the background was tinted or colored foil was glued.
From metal to birch bark
It is very difficult to draw a chronological boundary between the transformation of a peasant craft into a craft.
We find the first mention of birch bark things as a commodity on the pages of the travel diary of a retired second-major, Peter Chelishchev, who visited Veliky Ustyug in 1791.
This laconic testimony gives reason to assume that in the 18th century this method of decorating objects from birch bark in the peasant environment was nevertheless predominant due, first of all, to the less laboriousness of the creative process, although the existence of the production of things decorated with cut birch bark is not excluded.
This conclusion is not contradicted by the few miraculously preserved items with Carved birch bark dating back to the second half of the 18th century, the origin of which researchers associate with Veliky Ustyug.
On the example of the decorative solution of some of them, the connection between carved birch bark and the art of punched iron that flourished in the city during this period is clearly visible.
Perhaps a technique artistic processing metal began to be used and received its new development in another material - birch bark, but it is possible that these two types of cutting existed independently and simultaneously.
One of the favorite materials of the craftsmen was birch bark. Baskets, salt shakers, boxes, shoes (sandals, feet) were woven from it. Of the combined products (wood and bark), the most common was a tues, consisting of a layer birch bark and skolotnya (birch bark cylinder).
Birch bark has antiseptic properties, which allows you to store food in a birch bark dish for a long time. In addition to utilitarian items in the peasant hut, there were toys made of birch bark - wicker balls, rattles (shuffles), birch bark figures. Simple musical instruments - horns and pipes - were also made from birch bark. Pots, glass bottles, handles of labor tools were wrapped with birch bark ribbon.
Birch bark trades, once widespread throughout the country, have survived in the northern, northeastern regions of the European part of Russia, in the Volga region and Siberia. Elm bark bodies are made only in the Bryansk region (Maloye Polpino). Unfortunately, at the present time the trade is not so widespread, and the bodies are made only by individual craftsmen.
If you have been in the forest, then most likely you have seen a rotten birch stump at least once. If you kick it, it will crumble into dust, but the birch bark will remain strong. Birch bark is durable and does not decay, and people have long understood this. In the huts, it was placed under the lower crown of the hut so that moisture would not penetrate into the house. Birch bark was used to create moisture-resistant footwear, sheathing of birch bark boats, and the manufacture of tues that kept their contents cold even in the heat. One of the historical sources is the well-known birch bark letters, which have brought us samples of ancient Russian writing. Birch was used as paper due to its elasticity.
Birch bark products used in everyday life were often decorated with a cut pattern. The city where more than in all other places they were engaged in carving on birch bark was Veliky Ustyug.
Birch bark is easy to process, even using simple tools, you can perform various decorative work.
The most important tool when creating slotted birch bark is a cutter. Punch holes are also needed ( Hand tools for punching small holes in various materials) - they are made of sheet steel rolled up in the form of tubes of different diameters. The profiles of such tubes can be made in different shapes: oval, square, triangular, round. The tubes must be driven into wood handles and sharpened on the outside.
Chasing and a blunt awl are also useful in the work. The more different tools there are, the more interesting the drawing will be.
Birch bark harvesting should be planned for late May / early June, it is at this time of the year that the birch bark has a particularly beautiful shade and is easy to remove. Only remove birch bark from already fallen trees!
Peel off the outer white layer with sandpaper and remove the remnants of the bark from the front (inner) side.
Fresh birch bark exfoliates easily, but dried birch bark will need to be steamed with hot water and divided into layers with a knife.
To make the birch bark straight, put it between two planks and press down with a load.
For processing birch bark, you need a board (preferably linden or aspen). The birch bark is attached to such a board with the help of clerical buttons, and a sheet of thin paper with a drawing applied to it is fixed on top, then the drawing must be circled around the contour with a hard pencil so that the print of the drawing can be seen on the product, later you can circle it with an awl and directly on the birch bark ...
Difficult parts of the design must be cut with a cutter, and punch holes are well suited for small, often repetitive elements. To make the pattern even more interesting, engravings are used, they are lightly knocked on with a hammer so that a depression or bulge appears in the birch bark. Carefully, if you are not sure that you will get exactly a depression, and not a through hole, it is better to practice working as a chasing on a test piece of birch bark. Embossings and punches are used to simplify the same elements on the product. Awl is used to depict short lines and dots.
After your work is completed, you need to carefully remove the birch bark from the board and glue it to the background - smooth birch bark, colored foil, etc. For gluing, you must use wood glue and do it under a press. If during operation it loses its color and freshness, then it should be wiped with oil (sunflower or linseed) using a soft sponge or rag.
The finished product can be used to decorate a pencil case, bookmarks, pencil holders, glasses cases and many different objects that we find in everyday life.
So, our master class on making a pattern on birch bark by slotted carving:
Tools
First, we need a joint knife and a feather knife as the main knives. These are the main knives and we will use them most often. Professional craftsmen usually use only a feather knife at all.
We also need a set of chisels for wood carving.
Since I used to study woodcarving at Tatyanka, I have such a set of chisels in stock.
We also need an awl. The main thing in working with birch bark is to prevent the awl from scratching it, so give yourself a couple to work with birch bark and blunt / round off a little.
We need first-class, high-quality birch bark for the slotted thread. With a jamb knife, it is necessary to remove all growths and stratify the birch bark, removing the white layer. As we remember, birch bark is compressed layers of the thinnest outer bark, so delamination will pass easily.
Getting started
The first thing we need to do is prepare the drawing that we will cut out. To do this, it is enough to print the necessary drawing on the printer, attach it to the birch bark and with an awl (which is why you need a rounded awl), carefully circle the drawing, not pressing hard on the drawing, so that the outline remains on the birch bark.
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Many different tools can be used to emboss birch bark, but to get a full range of designs, I advise you to use a leather embossing tool.
Here are some examples of leather embossing:
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The effect will be the same, only because the birch bark is more fragile, calculate the force when hitting with a hammer :) Practice on an unnecessary piece of birch bark.
The frame around the picture is traced with a metal ruler, this is a proven way to make a straight line.
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After that, take some rest.
In order to glue our drawing on the decorated object, we take PVA glue, a sponge for dishes, and apply glue with small light movements, the glue is applied both to the object and to the birch bark, remember you don’t need much glue, otherwise it will flow out of the ornament and then all this will have a rather unpresentable look.
Good luck in your endeavors!