[Woodcarver] I need your help

[dick carter]

Very well put, Maura... good food for thought for all of us.


Dick Carter
>From the Manadnock area of NH
rhc511 at hotmail.com
Please check-out my stuff at:
http://www.picturetrail.com/cartersstuff


>From: Linehan718 at aol.com
>
>Hi Joe,  I do appreciate your questions that come along now and  then.  You
>actually make me stop and think for a while.
>
>When I first started carving, I was driven, probably addicted.  I was
>successful when i finished the carving i was working on.   I am an  amazing
>procrastinator in other parts of my life.  I was successful if it  came out 
>resembling
>what i was trying to carve.  I was successful if my  finishing techniques
>didn't ruin my carving.  It didn't matter what anyone  thought about the 
>finished
>carving, I was very proud of myself.  After  completing my first few 
>projects
>and realizing that i was falling in  love with carving, I set about on a 
>five
>year plan for myself.  I told  myself that the next five years would be
>learning years.  I didn't set out  to create any masterpieces or to make a 
>million
>dollars, but simply to  learn.  And to practice!
>I began buying books and gleaning every last piece of info i could find on
>the web.  I am right about at the 2 year mark now and i have to say my plan
>has been very successful.  In 2 years I have learned how to buy good  
>quality
>tools, and how to sharpen and maintain those tools.  I have learned  the 
>names
>and functions of most carving tools.  And have amassed a decent  
>intermediate
>selection of tools.  I have learned all about safety and how  having med. 
>ins.
>is an absolute( the day I drove a chisel right through the  flesh of my 
>hand).
>  I have learned to pay attention and be more  careful.  I have learned 
>about
>different wood properties and have  endevoured to try my hand working with 
>any
>and all different types of  woods.  I have learned in the round, 
>relief,power
>and architectural carving  techniques. The most important thing I have
>learned was that I only have to  please myself and as i am very demanding 
>of my
>talents,  I could not help,  but to improve.  I have learned that if you 
>ask for
>help, it is out  there.  I have taken classes and attended a roundup and 
>found
>a carving  club within driving distance.
>
>         Along the way, the  strangest thing happened.  People started 
>wanting
>to pay me.   Commission carving opened up a whole new world.  I actually 
>had
>to  communicate other peoples ideas with my carving.  i had to learn to
>listen,  so that i could make what they wanted, not what I thought they 
>wanted.  I
>learned about deadlines and pricing and about dealing with pain in the  
>butts.
>  I can proudly say that i have met every deadline(even if I finished  it 5
>minutes before the customer came to get it).   Success at this  point in my 
>five
>year journey is to master a new technique and create original  carvings.
>Getting to know other carvers who are better than me so that  they can push 
>me
>along just by inspiring me and networking, learning where other  carvers 
>are
>successful, and how people make money in this artform.  I have  especially
>learned to consider woodcarving an art, not a craft.  The  difference in 
>the pricing
>is amazing.  LOL   I have also learned  not to underestimate my talents or
>the confidence I have in those  talents.
>
>         Looking at the future, when  my five year learning plan is up,  I
>will consider myself successful if I  am partially supporting myself thru
>something carving related,  If I am  respected by those artists i hold in 
>awe now,
>If I am completing carvings  faster than i do now.  If I gain the 
>confidence to
>chip away rather than  whittle things down.  If I have already or am about 
>to
>teach a  class.  If I am known as a "woodcarver" both in the carving
>community and  in my hometown.  If I have gotten much better at finishing 
>and matching
>a  finish to a carving. That is where I want to be in 3 years.  All in all 
>my
>  successes have been many and my failures have been few.  And most of all,
>its been fun.  I look forward to the things to come.
>
>Maura Carvin'  in NYC
>www.picturetrail.com\whiteknight718
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