Why do you carve what you carve?

[Kenny_S]

Meaning why only Santas or Birds or wood spirits or what have you.
Is it the comfort zone and not wanting to carve anything else? Is it being a Master at your carving? Interesting topic as I have thought about it many times, why not just carve one subject like birds or wood spirits, etc.

This isn't to put anyone down as I am sometimes intimidated by Carver's atalents and their OUTSTANDING carvings.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

Well I know why I don't stick to one subject matter........I get bored to death LOL.........I like variety and change of subjects, I will agree that doing multiples of a given subject will greatly improve our carvings, but I really do hate doing duplicates.....I did a small version of my sea turtle and intended at the time to do the larger version later, well it was much later, as I really had a hard time getting up the interest necessary to carve the big turtle....I did eventually...anyway, thats why I don't stick to one subject
ADD? LOLCool

[Ron D]

i'm with hi ho i don't just carve one thing.i tried to stick to carving birds but it just got to hard on the head looking at the same type of carving all the time

ron

[Hugh]

One more opinion, I carve the same thing over and over again, meaning birds, but when I get one right, It might be time to move on to something else. Its a challenge, when one carving is finished I can see my mistakes,and try and correct the mistakes on the next. Haven't got there yet, but enjoy trying.

[Alice in Wonderland]

When I started carving I was using very gnarled Maple branches , they had already something of a character showing and I just followed the signes.From there I just always used woods( Birch, Maple, Ash,Cedar) with flawes etc, it turned out very successful since every piece was different, this was the beginning of "My Love for Wood" This type of work does not need patterns just you imagination.
Alice

[Butch_Speer]

I carve mainly Santa for carving shows. That's what people want. Santas. I really enjoy carving woodspirits too. People will walk by all day & ooh & ahh at the spirit. But, Santa is what they want so, I carve them and have learned to enjoy and appreciate them.

It's not just the money. It's nice but, I sure don't come out ahead for what I get for them. Last show I was at, an older lady walked by the table with a dis-intersted look on her face. She spotted one of my egg Santa's & got a huge smile on her face. Sure did make me feel good to know I made some one that happy.

[Hisart]

Take a look at my site and you'll see that I carve whatever I feel like. Some times it's purely an experiment gone right and other times it's gone left.
I don't carve the same thing twice, at least not yet.Hammer
Sometimes a piece of wood triggers something in my head and I have to just carve it to see if it would really work.Bouncing S

[Kenny_S]

OK, I asked the question, but did not answer it so here is mine. I too get bored carving the same thing over but understand why carvers cave one thing and I don't have a problem with that logic either. Variety is the spice of life, well someone told me that, and I need all the spice I can get. Talking

I guess I wouldn't me a master carver even if I carve one thing over and over.
I have a friend who carves nothing but Indian heads in Bark and I asked him why he carved Indian heads. He said, he carves them till he gets one right. But he is one fantastic carver.

Thanks for your repiles and appreciated.

[jamesfa]

i will carve just about anything that catches my interest,and if you've looked at my picturetrail there is a wide variety of subjects.maybe i'm still trying to find what really interest me or not.last yr i participated in a cane segment exchange and carved 9 segments that were all the same pattern but all turned out different.

people who carve only one thing are perhaps striving for perfection.or as your friend said till they get it right.
i'm looking forward to when Goody post all the pictures in one place of all the santas carved from his roughtout,it will be interesting to see the wide variety of Santas that will result.
so if you carve one subject the variety and variations to that one theme must be endless.

Frank

[squbrigg]

Great question Kenny! With me, it is as if there is something inside me that I have to fufill. Some burning desire! I have always felt driven from within to build/carve ships, and to improve and experiment with styles and variations, until I find and build the "perfect" vessel. I worked and learned in isolation, from book on the subject, until the internet came along. Since then I have been exposed to so much more in the way of ideas, tools, techniques and materials, that I feel compelled to try much more than just what I did before. Always on the same theme though .....nautical......that's in the blood!

Bob