[Colin_Partridge]

Last thursday I taught a class on a simple woodspirit bark carving. I had about 16 students and thought I would have no problem teaching them all to do this simple carving. Well I was wrong it was very hard not that I made it that way it is just that it is hard when people have no creative ability. I never give it a second thought I just do what I do and for me I think it is very simple. People tell me all the time how talented I am do be able to carve woodspirits out of trees. I honestly dont think that I am that talented. I am very humbled when I look on the creations of the people on this board. I started to list them all but thought better I was sure to leave someone out and I would hate to do that. Back to my point creative ability is something that you have or you dont have and although I was able to get most of the people to the finished carving only one or two were what I would call good carvings. I liked the two people that went out of the norm and created their own style I had explained that to them before I started. Most required help from me to get started even though the initial cuts were just stop cuts. I am probably rambling I tend to do that but what I really want to say it that creative ability is something you are born with and all the teaching in the world can not give that to you.
Colin

[Ky_Whittler]

Colin, I think a persons age has a lot to do with that. What life has taught them before you get to teach them gets in the way. Eficiency and production are hard mind sets to get rid of.
I once gave some 4H kids a tour of the farm talking about the trees and their uses. We went back to the house and sat down on some firewood blocks in the back yard with pocket knives and small blocks of cedar. Each one of those kids produced a spoon that would be the envy of many an adult. Just small utilitarian tools but they were a begining.

When you take eleven adults and do this two out of the eleven get past the begining shape without assistance. And this is just basic whittling. Whittler

[sheltiecarver]

Colin,
I teach a lot of beginners - just getting them to put knife to wood is a challenge - they are afraid they are gonna ruin it, or they say they don't have any artistic ability. I think that is just their life-training getting in the way. We all have artistic abilities - some more than others, but they're in each of us. The trick is to joke or cajole (sp?) or trick them into loosening up and letting that talent come creeping out of hiding. We have mostly been trained to color in the lines and not waste our art materials 'til we've almost frozen in our tracks. I find that if I get several chances with folks, about 85% of them will loosen up enough to get creative, if only just a little. And that look on their faces when they finally do is worth all that exasperation getting them there.
I also tell folks that they don't have to have a lot of patience to start woodcarving - if they really want to carve, and they actually practice it, carving will teach them patience.
Gosh - I went on and on, didn't I? I think this is another of my soapbox topics. I wish I had been in your class. I'll bet it was fun.
Sandy

[jamesfa]

colin-i think your right that you are born with a talent and those people creat truly beautiful and unique pieces.

but i also think that one can learn to carve if they get beyond their fear of ruining a piece.i always tell them that there is lots more wood.i also made a mock up using 6 blocks to demonstrate the process from start to finish.

in our carving group we have one fellow who wanted to carve birds he has now made 5,the first 3 are not recognisable as birds #4 is a little better and #5 with the help of some of the other fellows in the group is recognisable as what it is suposed to be.while he will never be as good as some of the bird carvers on this board he is happy with his progress.

Frank

[papasar]

Colin,
Have to agree with Sandy and Frank. I can ID with being afraid to ruin the carving. I sat with a member of my club to learn how to carve my first gnome. Actually my first in-the-round anything. He got me started and did one side of the face and the rest was up to me. Well I didn't get very far the first session and I missed the next night. We broke for the summer so the stick of wood sat for 2 months because I kept thinking what would my teacher do next. I got tired of looking at it and finally said to myself "the heck with what my teacher would do", "what will I do next?" I completed the piece in a very short time and I am still proud of it. It is an Al Streetman pattern that I made some changes to. I carry it with me in my carving bag and display it at work because I found that most people who look at it break out into a grin. I still am a little gunshy when I start a carving and I need those reminders that it is only wood.
Bill K.

[Hugh]

Bill,that is a very good carving. Well done, and nicely painted. In my first carving class a man cut off the head of his chickadee, and the next try he cut off the tail. Finished the third one in fine shape. He has progressed very nicely. Natural talent, is an assett, but not a necessity. After 18 yrs of carving I struggle with evey carving, just too stubborn to quit. I was drawing a few feathers on a students carving, he commented that, here is a man that can draw feathers better than he can sign his name. My writing and drawing leave much to be desired, we all have different talents, and learn to use those talents in different ways. Just takes some longer to get there. I agree with what been said , just wanted to add my thoughts.

[Irish]

Originally Posted by colin_partridge

Most required help from me to get started even though the initial cuts were just stop cuts. I am probably rambling I tend to do that but what I really want to say it that creative ability is something you are born with and all the teaching in the world can not give that to you.
Colin

I believe that creativity comes after method and technique, not before. Let me learn the HOW before I begin changing and rearranging the WHAT.

It sounds from your description of the class that your students were brand new to the tools, to the media, or to your carving style. Their focus that day was on how the tools felt in their hands, how those tools felt when they bit into the wood, what happened when a chip was removed, and what order all of this needs to happen to end up with a wood spirit carving. Their focus was on the HOW.

If you guided them through one finished project that they could take home you gave them the sample guide. They will now try again and again, as others have pointed out here. After they become accustomed (SP) to the feel of the tools in their hand, after they have learned to balance the mallet exactly right for them, after they learn that the world does not end just because they make a bad cut ... then they will begin to experiment.

One of the sad problems or consequences of being a teacher is that often you never get to see the true results of your efforts. True results don't happen at the class table. They happen many many months later when one of your students takes a carving to their family saying, "Hey, see what I just did!." And, unfortunitaly we teachers aren't there in the living room to Oh and Ah, we don't get to see it.

You did great, Colin! So did your students. But always remember as the teacher you are planting a very small seed that must have time and encouragement to grow into a tall strong plant. Was your first wood spirit creative or was it a copy of your teachers?

One more thought, consider who were your students? What type of art or craft experiences did they bring to the class table? You, with your expertise, might judge their carvings as disasters but for them this might have been their most creative moment ... they went out on the limb and tried to do something they had never done before! That is creativity at work.

Just my thoughts, Susan

[Colin_Partridge]

Well said Susan you are absolutly right I just went out and looked at my first carving ( I still have it) it is horrible but at the time I thought it was a masterpiece. Yes I tried to copy my teacher but it didnt turn out anything like his not even close.
These students were members of our carving club so they did have some carving experience but I think they were intimidated by the bark. I picked that medium because I thought it would be easy to work with but I now think it was a little too fragile for some of them.
They all went home with a somewhat finished piece at least they all looked like a woodspirit. I also sent them home with two or three extra pieces of bark and told them to practice and I will see how they progress is weeks to come.
I guess when all was said and done the reason I posted this topic is because I felt that as an instructor I had failed them somewhere. That I hadnt been clear on how to get them to the finished carving. Thank you all for your comments and your wisdom just like my students I have once again learnt something from your comments.
Colin

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I have always said, whether right or wrong..that artistic talent is 10 per cent inspiration and 90 per cent perspiration...and I still tend to lean that way, however the older I get I notice some people can't seem to do even basic things in some areas, but again I go back to the beginning..if someone "wants" to do something, they can...desire is the biggest part of any accomplishment..sorry that kind of goes against most of what is said here I think..but I do believe this!

[Irish]

Colin, You DIDN'T fail!

We can show them how to, we can offer our guidance and expertise. But the biggest thing that we as teachers can give our students is a look into our love for carving. If they see that love they will want it for themselves. That is what gives them the motivation to experiment, practice, and learn new techniques.

You have that love and you are sharing it right here on the forum. I've seen it and so has everyone else who reads your posts. So I can not imagine that you didn't also spread it freely throughout the hours of teaching your class.

I can say with total certainty ... You didn't fail!

Susan