[Woodcarver] My BH&G "Experience"

Wed May 19 17:14:17 EDT 2004

Last year I was pretty disappointed with the BH&G Santa special.  Boy!  They're sure gonna make up for it this year!  Congrats Teri.

Keep on Carvin'
-Mike B.->
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: SantaCarvinLady at aol.com 
  To: woodcarver at six.pairlist.net 
  Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 3:06 AM
  Subject: [Woodcarver] My BH&G "Experience"

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  In a message dated 5/18/2004 5:48:44 PM Pacific Daylight Time, rhc511 at fiam.net writes:
    Teri,

    We are all patiently awaiting "The Word" on how you dazzled the Better Homes
    & Gardens people on Monday.   Don't keep us in suspense!!!

    Dick Carter   rhc511 at fiam.net   From the Manadnock Area of NH
    http://www.picturetrail.com/cartersstuff

  Whew.   I don't know about dazzle, but....Yesterday's BH&G visit was a flurry of activity, from 9 in the morning til just after 4 in the afternoon.    [It's Tuesday night, and I'm just beginning to get my breath back a little.   "Terrified" isn't strong enough to describe my own demeanor that morning.    My "hero of the day" was without a doubt Bill - my dear friend, whose basement has become my new studio/home for now.    Bill met them at the door, talked with them a bit (WARNING them of the nutcase with knives inside, no doubt!), and ran a beautiful interference from beginning to end.] 

  Most of the day was a nervous blur at the time â?" but a day later, Iâ?Tm beginning to relax enough to think back on the experience and realize what it really held.

  The cast of characters included a photographer, his assistant, and two "writer/set coordinators".    They brought along a past copy of the BH&G Santa Claus book to give me a feel for how the book is done.     They were all quite gracious and gentle, actually â?" and as the day wore on, some very positive connections happened.  I love it when souls collide in spite of (or along with) the work at hand, and you get to glimpse inside and look around a bit.  That was a very cool bonus for me.

  I was able to get a few new fellows finished by then - and borrowed some of my carvings back from private collectors and the RTB gallery - so there was a decent number for them to choose from/use.     The whole day was spent â?ostagingâ? various shots â?" choosing and arranging props and carvings, testing for â?ofeelâ? and proper lighting, fixing, re-testing, shooting.      As nervous as I was to be in this situation, they were equally skillful at keeping the â?ofocusâ? on the shots, all the while weaving comfortable questions and conversation about my work and art in general around it.   

  I learned as much about them as they did meâ?¦.and certainly learned a great deal FROM them.  They used some of my own favorite things â?" my collection of old wooden trunks, old books, etc. â?" as backgrounds and props.  It made me smile when one of them mentioned the natural flow it seemed to show between what I do and what I am.   What better affirmation can an artist be given, really?   Wow.   How lucky am I?

  I canâ?Tt say Iâ?Td want to face this sort of thing very often â?" Iâ?Tm just not that good around people to bear it well.   But I am without a doubt honored to have had the experience.  

  I havenâ?Tt any real details about how the story will be written, or when the book is due out.   I assume Iâ?Tll hear more as it progresses, but then again, I may not :-)

  Teri 

  "Santas for the Soul"
  by Folk Artist Teri Embrey
  http://www.teriembrey.com

  "The remarkable thing about this gift of ours is that it has its rise, I am convinced, in the very woes which beset us . . . it is our emotional salvation." ~ J.R. Fauset

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