Jay - just a word to the wise carving artist - take criticisms for what they're work, when it comes to your own work. Too many carvers are quick to jump up to tell you what THEY think is 'wrong' or should be done 'differently'.. But when it comes to developing your own style, you have to be true to yourself, and nobody else. Otherwise, you'll never be fulfilled with what you do.

Carving is an art form...use it as such.

Teri

[Callynne]

Â* Â* I really agree with what Teri said, when I was a teenager I saved up my babysitting money to take an art class at our local college. Â*We were drawing from an actual model (no, not a nude one ) and I was drawing away thinking I was doing a good job. Â*The professor stopped behind me, watching and finally asked if I was happy with my drawing. Â*I was, so I said I thought it was going well. Â*He reached around, scribbled all over it and proceeded to tell the class what a good example of a bad artist I was. Â*I wasn't drawing what I 'felt' only what I 'saw'.
Â* Â* I never went back to his class but what he said stayed with me and influenced how I felt about my 'artistic abilities' for a very long time!
Â* Â* When someone criticizes your carving, listen with an open mind, take what is helpful and discard the rest. Â*Like Teri said, you will develop your own style and who knows, skinny ribs might just be it! Â* Â*Callynne

I think for my first carving I did okay considering I dident have any books or knowledge of working with the grain or even painting. I did okay. I hope with each carving i improve. I to came from a long line of art teachers that though you should have their art style and not your own. I tend to believe with pratice and knowledge I will improve. I enjoy it and will keep trying till I find my grove. Wouldent it be great to send those teachers your work.

Jay

Sounds to me like your doing great ... it took me ten years to get to the point where I even painted a carving (in my cast whittling).

Jay,
Looks like you've gotten lots of good advice. If I may, I'd like to expand a bit on numbering and signing all your carvings. Keep a list of them. I do that by keeping a list on index cards in my carving box. I list each carving by number, description, who I gave it to (or sold it to) and the date. I like to combine the number and date .... like #2303 would be for the 23 carving in the year 03; I don't restart numbers each year--just keep going and change the last two numbers to reflect the year. A typical listing would be #12203 - Bluebird done with Springfield Carving club workshop- 1/03. (This means it's the 122nd carving that I've done and it was started in January of 2003.) The list helps me remember what I've carved, what happened to it, and when I carved it. (This is helpful as you carve more items and your memory gets fuzzy with age and clutter.) If I take a class and a carving is a result, then I note that too. It is interesting to see how few things I finished in the first years and how many in later years. I've been told that if you sell carvings, this list may not be so good because the IRS could ask you what happened to the rest of the carvings. But, that's not an issue with me.

Anyway, if you've had contact with Richard Belcher in Ohio, he's good and will be a great help as you start the learning and growing process. You should learn from each carver you come in contact with and You will learn that carving is only half of the project--the finish can make or break it, too. Learning to thin paints to 'wash' carvings is ever so much better than painting with full strength paint. Thinning about 1/10 ratio is a good place to start. Just build up colors by applying more layers after each layer dries.

Like others have said, when I first started carving, I was just glad that someone could tell what the carving was!!

Most of all, enjoy the process.

Everyone thank you for the tips on numbering and dating. I also look forward to Mr. Belchers class. He spend hours with me the first time I went to his shop. Time Iam sure that could be spend doing other things. He showed me how to sharpen tools and about the painting as well he told me you want to show the grain a bit. If you put it on to thick you get spots it does not cover. You can tell he loves to teach and he loves his art. I love that he lives only ten minutes away. And will be glade when his class starts.

Jay

[Callynne]

Â* Â* Hey Jay, bet if I showed that professor my carvings he still wouldn't like them, probably say I they are just too stiff, too wooden! :P Sorry, bad pun but I couldn't resist! Â* Â*
Â* Â* I keep a list too Donna, I bought a little book and enter each carving, the name or description and the date. Â*Also, enter the amount it was sold for or who it was given to as a gift. Â*I've only been carving two years and I am already starting to lose track of what I carved when! Â*
Â* Â* Another thing I do is take a picture of each piece and put them in a special album. Â*Since I've given away most of everything I've carved and am now starting to sell them it's nice to have the pictures. Â*Callynne

I agree with the signing and dating your work, and the numbering system for keeping track of things. I would also encourage you add your home town, for two reasons. The first and most relevent to the artist, is it gives someone trying to find you a place to start looking. The second is for future generations a bit more info about the history of the piece.

Dave

Or; if you carve like I do - somebody else's name and hometown.

Cally,
I'm glad you mentioned the pictures. I keep a separate album of pictures of my carvings, although I don't always remember to take pictures of carvings. Since most are sold or given away, it helps me remember details so if I ever want to try something like that again, I'll not have to start from scratch.

I'd be the first to admit, the lists and photos are to help failing and cluttered memory more than 'record keeping.'

The idea of adding town/state is good one. We're forever seeing ads where someone is trying to track down history of a carver when all they have is a name or initials on carvings. At first I put sticker labels on the bottoms of carvings; now I burn and use permanent ink on the info on the bottom. Who knows what the taste of antique collectors will be 75 years from now...one of us may be the next Grandma Moses of carving! Or at least, our great grandkids will have some idea of where that strange carving their parents passed on to them came from....

It's supposed to be 70 degrees and sunny here in Missouri today. Makes me want to go outside and whittle and spit. But snow coming tomorrow. I love this place!

Donna T