[Woodcarver] I need your help

[Patti Landmann]

--- Joe DiDillettjdjdilletththecarvingshopom> wrote:

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>  How do you define success?
> Fellow Carvers,
> 
>Hi Joe,

Here are my thoughts:

When I started carving 7 years ago it was to carve
Father Christmas figures.  After 10 or 15 SaSantas
looked around and discovered the wonderful world of
woodcarving.  When carving SaSantasif it was carved
clean and painted well,  it was not hard to convince
anyone that it was wonderful as the subject itself is
pleasant.

I then wanted to carve everything I saw and just as
quickly found that I did not have the skill to carve
many of the exciting things that came to mind.  After
numerous classes and seminars and more importantly
observing the really good carvers that are in our club
and area I found skills and techniques that would
allow me to grow and move beyond my wildest dreams in
the beginning.

My web page is titled "Treasure and Pleasure" and that
pretty much explains how I feel about my carvings. 
Some are true Treasures and some just give me
Pleasure.  This being said it would be logical to
think that I was a successful beginner.  And I have
grown to a successful intermediate.  And I have
promise to be a successful advanced carver given time
and effort.  But my most profound problem comes with
exposure of the piece to others.  When finishing a
piece I feel that I love it and have been successful
in creating what I saw in my mind.  I am excited and
pleased.  At this point I show it to others and then
watch their reactions for a sign of what I feel.  It
rarely happens and I take this lack of good reaction
as an immediate "not good enough".

There are many reasons for reactions...disinterest,
distraction, jealousy, and on and on.  So that being
said, one should be able to rationalize away all
negative or passive reactions.  I go away crestfallen
and wonder if I will ever carve anything really good.

So my advise to anyone is carve for your self from
your heart.  Make yourself happy and that is the
ultimate feeling of success.  Learn and grow as your
goals change but always make yourself happy in your
heart.  

My obvious answer is to never show anything but it is
in the sharing of the art that we all grow.

I would love to hear from anyone who has any idea how
to overcome this feeling of lack of confidence and the
 extraordinary amount of importance I place on the
reactions of others.  I doubt this is normal  But who
ever said I was normal.

  


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=====
Patti Landmann 

lowvillecarver at yahoo.com  
http://www.centuryinter.net/treasures/