[Woodcarver] new projects

[Joe Dillett]

Hi Maricha,

One idea that was drummed into my head was that art is our universal
language. That good art communicates ideas and feelings. Good art enriches
our lives. Good art seems to be able to communicate complex ideas and
feelings in a simple form.

We had a discussion last night in my class. I was telling one of my
apprentices how I loved the honesty of his art. Using Betty Edward's book
'Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain' as our textbook for the drawing
portion of our class, this apprentice did an honest portrayal of himself for
his 'uninstructed self portrait' assignment. Every line looked a bit raged,
which depicted him perfectly even though it was off technically. My concern
was that he never looses this honesty that his work shows. His work is like
an open window into his soul.

So perhaps the struggle is to be willing to allow others to see into our
soul, to see who we are and not who we want them to see. Than the next
challenge is to develop a message we feel is important to communicate. When
one thinks about it, it is easy to understand why artists most often use
nature, the human form and religion as a tool to communicate their ideas and
feelings.

I like your 2005 motto, to listen, really listen and portray. Additionally I
would not minimize the importance of meditation as a means of listening to
yourself to discover your message that lay deep in your soul. Than let your
art be the window that allows US to see into your soul.


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
http://www.citizenactions.org
http://www.safeguardsystemsinc.com
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hi folks,

for 2005 my motto is to listen, really listen, and portray.
my inspiration comes from everything, and hope that with this email some
inspiration will float around.
listening has opened not only my ears, my eyes reading your work, websites
and future ideas.  the caricature of mike is great and of course i see the
energy by his posture, movement etc.
the energy of the list owner, with his carvings and updating his collections
of goodies.
the energy of the responses of the members.....
so why not get down to brass tax and really tell us what is important in
what you do?
I read an article about Gauguin, and the journey of his life which led to
the experiments in his work, and then created his own fantasy paradise, and
worked all his life to full fil what he knew best, by painting what was in
his imagination using the beautiful native girls.  the overwhelming number
of questions that arise after studying a person's work, is such a gift, such
a priceless treasure, i started to question myself.
what have i done with the gift of carving? sculpture? drawing? time?:
feelings? the list?  these are only a few questions, yet i got over a 100
questions from the article on gauguin.
what my new project is ,,,,, is to listen to you all, learn from you all,
old masters and beginners to follow the path i am going. what is the path i
am going? the love of wood, the skill of being able to make caricatures,
design something out of a branch, a log and the spoken word. not to waste
time, enjoy everybit of it for a useful task. treat the timber with respect,
the people that work with it and their ideas. share their dreams. what is my
dream, to enrich someone with what i have learnt in carving, in my search
for going forward the topics that mean . a simple thing to me, yet it is
what heals me, as art/carving /sculpture to me are not only creative avenues
to travel and meet wonderful people, but also a wonderful remedy for all the
sad things around us. a great avenue to get better and improve ourselves.

how can i improve myself in sculpture woodcarving by reaching my dreams, my
dreams are many, and one of them is to thank some of you for generousity in
sharing yourknowledge, and your tenacity to keep on trying to do your best.
new projects i have are to finish some of the sculptures that are dear to my
heart , some are abstract, some are traditional, but most of all they are
authentic from my imagination.

may be you will not like this email, because people do not like to share
their dreams, or their inner artistic selves, yet we are here to share and
talk about what makes us tick.
so much talent, yet it seems to be wasted, let us be  DOers, with much love
and great passion for what we do.

hope this opens up a few windows .

cheers
maricha