[Woodcarver] How artists define success... Joe Dillett

Thu Aug 12 14:14:02 EDT 2004

Joe:

Such an interesting question!!
Do you stay awake at night formulating these questions for us??? <grin>

It is serendipitous that I read your email message after this mornings 
devotions, here at the lake, because what I read in Luke 2:22-40 speaks 
to your query in a rather profound way.
I recently carved a relief on Luke 2:29-32 [go to my website at: 
http://wwwoodcarver.com/AssortedWebPages/myhome.html and look for the 
link to the "Simeon" carving].

This carving was an attempt to capture the wonder and amazement of an 
old man who discovers once again, in his old age, that God is a 
promise-keeping God. He had been blessed to live long enough to see the 
Messiah of God. Holding the babe in his hands he proceeded to proclaim 
that his life was complete. Now he could die in peace.

Simeon defined his life by God's promises and faithful obedience to 
God's will and purpose for him. Nothing else mattered. Simply to be of 
service in God's kingdom and to see the Savior was all the purpose he 
needed.

Like Susan Irish, my goals for carving have changed over the years. And 
so they needed to change, for at first they were selfish, then shallow, 
then short-sighted, then awakened to the possibilities, and in my later 
years they have become more mature and focussed on what really matters. 
As one gets older it seems one is able to reduce the meaning and 
purpose of life to what is essential.

There was a  woman my wife and I knew in Grande Prairie that we both 
admired. I asked her one day what it was that motivated her to do the 
many remarkable things she did - community service, leadership, raising 
a family, modeling integrity - and her answer came without a second 
thought. She said "I am motivated by the desire to make a difference". 
That stuck with me.

When I first started carving as a hobby, my intent was to "carve all of 
scriptures". It seemed a good goal to pursue. That goal has been 
transformed from an innocent and unattainable goal [after all, to carve 
all of scriptures would mean having to also carving Leviticus and 
Numbers <grin>] to a goal which is not only attainable, but most 
desirable.

Remember that I am a preacher, so if this sounds a bit "preachy" 
forgive me. But it is where I am at. This is what motivates me. It is a 
choice I've made. It is the bedrock of what I do as a carver, as a 
husband, as a father, as a Canadian, as a man.

As my awareness of God's activity and calling in my life have started 
to come into focus, I wish now only to make a difference in the Kingdom 
of God... to be a model citizen, a faithful ambassador and a true 
witness to Jesus. All the carvings I do, and all the teaching I do have 
this one goal and purpose in mind. If what I do pleases Jesus, it is 
worthwhile. If my work serves Jesus it is worthwhile. If my work 
witnesses to Jesus, it is worthwhile. In the end I desire to hear Him 
utter the words "Well done, good and faithful servant." Anything done 
for reasons other than to faithfully serve Jesus is worthless.

I was in Red Deer last week, teaching at the Summer carving workshop 
held every year there. Christ White, one of Fox Chapel's authors and 
the gifted carver, whose book "Parables" took our breath away when it 
first came out... he was teaching at Red Deer too. I had an opportunity 
to go for lunch with Chris and discovered that he shares the same 
motivation and purpose in life that I do. Everything he does, he does 
with Jesus in mind.
His is the mind of a servant who is honored to serve and it is a 
wonderful thing to behold.

Part of my devotions this morning also took me from the biblical 
account in Luke of Simeon to Paul's works in Phillipians 4, where Paul 
defines his life in the words "To live is Christ, to dies is gain." I 
desire that my walk with God and faithful service to Him are what 
define everything else about my life.

Joe, I don't know if or how you will be able to use this at the SEA 
conference.

And for the rest of the List community, I hope you receive what I've 
said with gentle hearts.

Blessings and Peace (abound)

Bill
List Owner

W.F. Judt,
46 Harvard Cres,
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
S7H3R1
PH: 306-373-6649
Email: bjudt at sasktel.net
Website: http://www.wwwoodcarver.com

On Aug 12, 2004, at 7:00 AM, Joe Dillett wrote:

> To make a DONATION to the Mailing List using PayPal OR regular mail, 
> click this link: http://wwwoodcarver.com/WWWList/WWWList.html
>
>  How do you define success?
> Fellow Carvers,
>
> I need your help. I'm on the board of the SEA Conference 
> (Self-Employment in
> the Arts) and I'm working on ideas to help organize another series of
> practical talks to help artists get started and stay in business. The 
> idea
> I'm working on is that sometimes we need to peal away all the layers 
> of the
> necessary day to day activities, that surround our art, and define or
> redefine what we call success.
>
> I feel it is important, especially in our art, to have a clear idea of 
> how
> we define our success. If we don't have a clear definition of our 
> success we
> 'll never know if we are successful. I'm not talking about the 
> achievement
> of all your goals but rather some target you aim for as a level you 
> would be
> happy to achieve. I feel it is important to define what we feel would 
> make
> us successful. If we don't have a clear idea we have no idea were we 
> are
> going and we can't develop a map on how to get there. I also feel it
> important to our self-esteem to celebrate our success when we have 
> achieved
> it. As our art matures so does our definition of success. That is why 
> we
> need to periodically redefine success and recognize when we have 
> achieved
> success.
>
> For most of us, success is one or a combination of the following 
> goals. 1)
> make money, 2) find your artistic voice, 3) being able to do what you 
> like
> as often as you like, 4) to be proud of your work and have the courage 
> to
> share it with others, 5) being able to show your work in exhibits, 6) 
> to
> fill your world with things that you love to do or people that you 
> love to
> be with, 7) to leave a legacy that hopefully touches people in some 
> way, 8)
> to promote the advancement of your art through teaching, 9) to break 
> into
> and have an influence in the "accepted" world of art, 10) to become 
> famous,
> 11) to use your art to spread a message 12) to just be able to carve 
> that
> one object, and many more goals you may want.
>
> ****** What I would like to know from you is how did you defined 
> success
> when you began carving and how do you define success today. ****** This
> would be helpful for me to develop ideas for the SEA Conferences. Most 
> of
> the attendees are college seniors or recent art graduates hoping to 
> learn
> about business. The next largest group is the professors and art 
> teachers.
> Then there is a smaller group of struggling artists wanting to improve 
> their
> business. These kids have a Mega portion of talent, filled with dreams,
> ambitions, high energy, a burning desire to make their mark on the art 
> world
> and a hope of not having to get a regular job to pay off their student
> loans.
>
> When I began carving as a kid my only goal was to be able to whittle 
> that
> toy gun or that toy sword. They were very short-term goals with no 
> thought
> of art in mind. As I grew so did my goals. I found I liked carving so 
> much
> that wanted to sell a few carvings so I could buy more tools. That 
> worked
> out so well that I thought I would like to be able to carve full time
> without having the family suffer. In the last 6 to 8 years my goals 
> have
> gotten more into improving my art skills as well as promoting the art 
> of
> woodcarving. I found as I set new goals, revising my definition of 
> success,
> that it was important to celebrate achieving the old goal before I 
> embarked
> on the journey to the new goal. These celebrations of success, I feel 
> was
> important to build my self-esteem, which is so important to fueling my
> enthusiasm and energy.
>
> I would love to hear your ideas on how you defined success in the past 
> and
> how you define your success today. I would like to hear your ideas if 
> you
> just started carving or if you've been carving a long time. We all have
> ideas of success. This would be very helpful for me to come up with a 
> core
> idea to build our seminars for the upcoming year.
>
> Thanks for your help.
>
>
> Joe Dillett
> The Carving Shop
> 645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
> Somonauk, IL. 60552
> (815) 498-9290 phone
> (815) 498-9249 fax
> http://www.thecarvingshop.com
> jdillett at thecarvingshop.com
> http://www.carvingmagazine.com Carving Magazine web site and Readers 
> Forum
> http://community.webshots.com/user/joe_dillett
> **************************************************
>
>
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