11-year-old’s scroll-sawing talent on display at OC Fair
The Orange County Scroll Saw Assn. is made up of about 50 men and women up to age 90. But it’s the one 11-year-old member who will be leading Orange County Fair visitors in sawing demonstrations this weekend.
Jadyn Coulter of Costa Mesa, the association’s youngest member, will be shaping animals and other shapes out of wood from noon to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday in the Anaheim building of the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.
“Jadyn’s found the enjoyment of making something, and it’s the makers that become doers,” said Chuck Collins, president of the Orange-based Scroll Saw Assn. “Her generation is a very technological one. We’re trying to reach the younger generation.”
In her three years of scroll sawing, Jadyn has made trinkets such as Christmas ornaments and letters for initials, which she has given to teachers at the YMCA in Newport Beach.
“I like how many options there are to make, and if you can’t find a pattern you can always draw your own,” Jadyn said. “The sky’s the limit.”
A scroll saw, which looks similar to a sewing machine, uses a blade that looks almost threadlike to cut the shapes and patterns out of boards or blocks of wood. The teeth on the blade feel like the rough stubble of a budding beard.
With just a press of the foot pedal below the machine, the scroll saw begins to rock the blade up and down. It hums softly as it carves into the wood.
For crafters with older eyes, a magnifying screen can be placed in front to help them see what they’re sawing.
“We need those, but Jadyn doesn’t need it,” Collins said with a laugh.
Jadyn’s affinity for the art began when her age was a single digit. When she was 8, she went to the OC Fair and swung by the Scroll Saw Assn.’s booth.
While fairgoers typically glance at the wooden cars and animals displayed on the table, Jadyn spent more than an hour asking the club members about scroll sawing.
“She was so intrigued,” said her mother, Tracey. “Then her grandpa bought her a scroll saw.”
Jadyn’s grandfather, Dave Coulter, is no stranger to wood working, having gotten his first scroll saw when he was around 11.
“I made my aunt a half moon one time,” he said. “I enjoy watching [Jadyn] do her thing now. If somebody don’t pick it up, it’s going to be a lost art.”
Jadyn returned to the fair the following summer, carrying her work to show the veteran scroll sawers.
“There was an angel, a heart and I think a reindeer she had showed us,” Collins said.
The crafters gave Jadyn more instruction about how to saw and different patterns to cut.
The patterns, which help scroll-sawing enthusiasts outline the shapes to cut from the wood, can be found in magazines or on the Internet.
Eventually, Jadyn became a member of the scroll-sawing club. She was 10.
According to Collins, the association crafts as many as 4,000 toys each year for 26 charities in Orange County that give them to children in need.
As Jadyn shows guests at the fair this weekend how the scroll saw works, she plans to hand out newly carved animals to children who stop by.
“I want it to inspire them,” Jadyn said. “That’s how I got my interest, by seeing it and saying, ‘That’s cool, I want to try that.’”
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What: Orange County Fair
Where: OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa
When: Through Aug. 14. Noon to midnight Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturdays and Sundays.
Cost: $12 general admission; $7 for senior citizens 60 and older and children ages 6 to 12; free for children 5 and younger
Information: ocfair.com or (714) 708-1500
ocfair.com
or (714) 708-1500
