pdrake new stuff check it!! 7/19 - Tiki Carving

T Tamapoutini Member Aotearoa (New Zealand) Joined: Aug 30, 2006 Posts: 1530	T Tamapoutini Posted posted on Fri, Jul 20, 2007 3:49 PM On 2007-07-19 22:44, T_birdman wrote: Hey Perry, I really like the look and the shape of it, I don't know what it is but I would like to see it when it's all done. *I reckon I know.. Looks like a stylised lip/chin-moko design to me!..? Glad to see you persevering with the green stuff. I admire the fact that you are virtually teaching yourself and achieving some success. Back in my bone carving days people would often ask 'do you carve jade?' and my only responce was 'no idea; it's another world away, different tools, etc' - and this was living in a country with a firmly established jade industry. It can be a very mysterious and intimidating craft to the uninitiated. You would do well to sort yourself a better handpiece if the one you are using isnt up to scratch. Try not to be too hard on yourself for these early efforts; I can see by your other work that you have the necessary skills/precision, etc; its really just a matter of finding some half decent stone and practice, practice, practice, (experiment), practice. It takes time to really understand any material & you've picked one of the most difficult! Believe me, I look back at pieces after only a few weeks or months and often feel a bit embarrassed. Our skills keep on improving and I guess this is just a part of the journey - Think about it: if your skills are constantly improving, you will keep producing better & better work, and therefore; you will ALWAYS look back and find yourself cringing a little. My suggestion to you (if you want to get really good or make a bit of pocket-money) would be to 'specialise' in something; say, these new composite lures, and really thrash ideas/techniques etc around until you NAIL those tricky suckers. If you say that getting the wood and shell to laminate nicely (and I believe you) is tricky, then become the best at it - any potential competition will fall behind and you will be able to offer the best examples available. Invention is good; if you can invent something (a technique, style, whatever..) then it is all yours and only available from you. If competition arises or sales slow, invent something else. Invention and creativity. Creativity in marketing is just the same as creativity in making. -I go on about sales as I know the confidence (as an artist) that comes from the 'verification' that comes from selling a work (the money is nice too!). Sorry about the ramble; not sure where it came from. Hope there's something of value here for you.haha Tama :)

On 2007-07-19 22:44, T_birdman wrote:
Hey Perry, I really like the look and the shape of it, I don't know what it is but I would like to see it when it's all done.

*I reckon I know.. Looks like a stylised lip/chin-moko design to me!..?

Glad to see you persevering with the green stuff. I admire the fact that you are virtually teaching yourself and achieving some success. Back in my bone carving days people would often ask 'do you carve jade?' and my only responce was 'no idea; it's another world away, different tools, etc' - and this was living in a country with a firmly established jade industry. It can be a very mysterious and intimidating craft to the uninitiated. You would do well to sort yourself a better handpiece if the one you are using isnt up to scratch. Try not to be too hard on yourself for these early efforts; I can see by your other work that you have the necessary skills/precision, etc; its really just a matter of finding some half decent stone and practice, practice, practice, (experiment), practice. It takes time to really understand any material & you've picked one of the most difficult! Believe me, I look back at pieces after only a few weeks or months and often feel a bit embarrassed. Our skills keep on improving and I guess this is just a part of the journey - Think about it: if your skills are constantly improving, you will keep producing better & better work, and therefore; you will ALWAYS look back and find yourself cringing a little.

My suggestion to you (if you want to get really good or make a bit of pocket-money) would be to 'specialise' in something; say, these new composite lures, and really thrash ideas/techniques etc around until you NAIL those tricky suckers. If you say that getting the wood and shell to laminate nicely (and I believe you) is tricky, then become the best at it - any potential competition will fall behind and you will be able to offer the best examples available. Invention is good; if you can invent something (a technique, style, whatever..) then it is all yours and only available from you. If competition arises or sales slow, invent something else. Invention and creativity. Creativity in marketing is just the same as creativity in making. -I go on about sales as I know the confidence (as an artist) that comes from the 'verification' that comes from selling a work (the money is nice too!).

Sorry about the ramble; not sure where it came from. Hope there's something of value here for you.haha

Tama :)

Post #320200 by Tamapoutini on Fri, Jul 20, 2007 3:49 PM