inspiration and motivation

[Wildbirdcarver]

From time to time most of us loose our motivation to create. What gets you going again and what influences you?

Lynn's "Reb" carving has influenced me a lot. Not necessarily to carve caricatures, but to do my very best on each carving no matter what! Thanks again Lynn. Dick

[pallin]

Many of us drift away from carving due to the demands of other activity. I get inspired when I have some available time and a challenging pattern.

[Lonewolfcarver]

I usually try to go through old woodcarving magazines and looking through the forum here helps as well.

[TOEKNEE]

for me, reading this forum and viewing the gallery pictures is a huge influence. plus, belonging to a carving club helps keep the creative process moving. and when you show people your work, their smiles and comments keep me going as well...

[Colin-Partridge]

To me my inspiration comes from watching others carve. Lately it has been Robbin because we carve together a lot. You cant help but be inspired by Robbin he is so supportive gets you to challenge yourself. I get really inspired by looking at others carvings on this message board. Irishman is a great inspiration to me I would love to be able to achieve the detail he does in his faces. I suffer from disinterest and family gets in the way and so it shoud so there are times when carving takes a back seat and I need to get inspired again.
Colin

[Gulf Coast Handyman]

For me it just comes back. I do take a break when I feel I need to, but then it just comes back and I can't wait to get in my shop and carve.

Dave

[Wildbirdcarver]

Signing up for a carving/painting class really fires me up to get better at our craft/art. Mixing in with other carvers in the class is a great help. Also preparing my GOALS of what I want to accomplish in the class and carefully present them to the teacher is very productive. They have always been more than willing to direct me down a correct path. Learning different techniques, and the reason for that technique, from many different teachers helps me a lot. Cheers, Dick

[Larry Bev]

Seeing the work of all the good carvers on this site helps the inspiration of this Wanna be.

[Claude]

What helps me the most is also probably what is the hardest for me to do: not just look at what's around me, but try to see what's around me. I mean see it in the sense of observing, analyzing, comparing, assessing, etc. As anyone could easily tell from my web site, a lot of my carvings are done because I saw the same thing in a book, or here, or on a web site, or...
But, I have a few that I actually thought up and then created a pattern for. And, sometimes I just sit in front of the bench and let my mind rove until some little thought seems right - then go do the research on the web or in my books..

Claude

[lorax]

When I am feeling not-so-creative / uninspired, I usually just clean and organize my workshop. I usually do it after each project, so maybe it's a stimulas response thing. Past that, there are alot of carving activities that don't require any "inspiration or creativity" To me this includes things carved from patterns, like moulding and decoratve patterns. I'm trying to become proficient in acanthus leaves, which seem a bit more mechanical than creative. Luckily I usually have at least one commission going, so that's pretty good motivation $$$