I started with craft items and got tired of only working in one dimension. I worked a little in intarsia and then one of the sisters at the monastery where I worked showed me some of her brothers carvings, and I thought, I can do that!

I love wood. I love it's smell, it's idiosyncracies, grain and look. I don't like pecan shell castings -- sorry, I understand why those of you who do it, do, but I still don't like it.

Sometimes we lose sight of why we carve because those around us really fail to appreciate the love, care and time put into a 'genuine' woodcarving. They casually suggest that they would offer us $25.00 for something that we have put hundreds of hours into. And why should they pay us what the actual woodcarving is worth when they can buy a casting for 14.95?

I sell if I have something that someone wants and wants to pay me a fair price for. I don't do commissions. People have said to me, 'Oh, you are one of those kind of artists.' I guess, it's my choice, whatever that is. I like to compete. It makes me work harder on my carvings. It makes me try new and harder things. I'm proud to see my things hang in public -- even prouder when they have a ribbon on them.

I guess it is about personal gratification! Plus, I don't want to see the art/craft die out.

Pam

[Carvity_Carve]

No, unfortunately I don't have a site, Smokey, and anyway right now I figure my work isn't very, ahem, presentable, since I haven't been doing it too long. But eh, maybe someday.

[Greyhair]

Great thread. I carve because it is the most honest representation of my emotions, prejudices, talents, and musings. It is not transendental but if everything is just right it is truly spiritual. So often we get so entertwined with the demands of living that we loose touch with what our heart is saying. To really carve well you have to listen carefully to your heart. Just think about it, can you look at a carving and see that it is special? What causes that? When I carve and get absorbed, not in the process, but in the spirit of what I am carving I have an enriching experience. It takes character to put character in a carving. I am a better person because I carve. I am kinder, I listen better, I see more, and I give more of myself. I appreciate something as mundane and ordinary as a stick because I know with just a little care and true affection it can become a work of art. The trick is to take that same appreciation and apply it to those that I meet. Carving provides me an avenue to empathy.

[Kenny_S]

Maybe My little bride should take up carving so as to mellow her out!

how can someone follow Greyhair? Just with honesty I guess.

I carve mainly for me. started as a pup and put it aside for adolecence. came back to it when the urge to create and express myself grew strong and my attempts at other things proved weak. I do accept commissions with the understanding that I will go with an idea and create something that inspires me and matches my view of that idea. they have to wait for the product and are under no obligation. needless to say this is not paying my bills. I find it interesting that the more I do this the more I want to do it. There are only a few other things in my life that affect me that way.

judging from the response to this thread, I would guess the answer to the topic heading is no, even if the sight is varied and personal.

Dave