[RussL.]

"...In your businesses that sort of repeated grunt work in just a waste of time. Russ..."

"why waste all your time doing grunt work? Because that's what it takes. Mark..."

"But to me it was and is ANYTHING but a waste of time. carvendive..."


Gentlemen,

Please pardon my assumptions and accept my apologies for any affront.

My comment was paraphrased from a story about a fly fisherman who began thinking to himself that maybe fly fishing was just a waste of time.
Then he thought to himself: "...but then again, that's sort of the point!"

I meant that grunt work might be considered a wast of time...but then again, that's sort of the point. That meant to be in praise of grunt work, as in the original anecdote which was in praise of fly fishing.

I meant ABSOLUTELY NOTHING negative about your work, be it made with a duplicator or not, be it made as a business activity or not.

I love the grunt work of carving...it's the only carving I know.
That "process", that "grunt work" is the attraction of carving for me.

It only goes to show how difficult successful communication can be on the internet.

Again, please accept my apologies and understand that I meant no offense.

I will now retreat and reflect on how I should express myself more thoughtfully if I am to contribute to this forum again in the future.

Russ

[chuckt]

Hey Russ -

Not to steal the thread off onto a tangent, but you're in some really good company here. I think we ALL have come to the realization that communicating on these boards via the written word is a whole other skill unto itself, and one we can ALL stand to improve on. Lord knows I manage to stumble onto toes often enough. It's all part of the fun. :-)

That's why I always have to remind myself - be slow to take offense and speak in anger or irritation, and quick to ask questions to clarify and forgive. The VAST majority of the time folks have no ill will intended and it is just a simple misunderstanding or miscommunication.

[EDIT - heck - even if someone DOES respond in anger because they're riled - its ok. We all do that occasionally. Once you have some time to step away and cool down - folks usually get past it and move on.]

On the whole - carvers are some pretty decent fair minded folks.

So no worries man. I am guessing that Mark & Carvendive will totally understand.


ChuckT

[mark yundt]

Hello Chuck,,and I think you're correct. I didn't have any concerns with what RussL had to say. I understand his thoughts and I didn't take offense to anything he had to say.
I think RussL ,,from the conversations we have had ,,understands my position as a full time carver,,,with the clientele I have,,,the nature of the projects I get involved in,,that out of necessity I carve the way I do. I would imagine some doing this only as a hobby don't understand why I would choose to do things a certain way that might seem counterproductive to speed or ease of carving.I think in that case,,,they truly don't understand the context or extent some are willing to go to,,and pay for.
Sure ,,it would be really easy to just knock out some pieces on a laser,,cnc,,or duplicator and call it done, but as you well know the nature of my work precludes that. Sure,,if a client wants 40 bracktes for their house I'll rough them out then carve them. But that's seldom. Most everything is a one off.
It would also be very easy for me to just buy some brackets,,onlays,,trim,,moldings and copy them on a duplicator and then pass them off as if I carved them. But that's not the point either. And then it begs the question,,what if I did buy some brackets and treated them as if they were roughouts? Just cause I ran a chisel over them do I call them my own that I carved? Sorry,,,I can't do that. Do I take someone elses design,,run it through some computer and claim I carved it,,,I just used a computer instead of a chisel,,it's the same thing. I know some are willing to do that,,,but I can't do that either.
Somehow I think we'd all agree there is something not quite right about that.
But somehow,,,I can feel O.K. about making my own design,,doing my own carving,,and if I need to,,make a copy of my own work,,and still feel as though I can still call it my own.
Sorry I went on,,and a bit off track,,,there was another post still sticking in my mind.

[carvendive]

Originally Posted by RussL.

My comment was paraphrased from a story about a fly fisherman who began thinking to himself that maybe fly fishing was just a waste of time.
Then he thought to himself: "...but then again, that's sort of the point!"

Russ

Russ, Your initial reply had no indication that it was based in a fishing story. I took it, and your post following it, at face value. But even at that, you'll notice that in my reply I stated that I took NO Offense nor do I now, nor will I.

We all have a commonality - our love for carving. How I choose to do it DOES NOT have to be how others do it. My only intent in this conversation has been to SINCERELY thank Mark for sharing that which is at the core of what I love and to let others know that if they want to reach for something beyond what they have been told is outside their skill level, it OK to do it.