Post #386581 by Babalu on Thu, Jun 12, 2008 7:03 AM

Hey Big Bro,

I've been following this thread as I'm guessing most have.

I should start off by saying that in the short year and a half that I have been involved on TC, I have purchased and read both of your books. I have scoured the archives of TC, and I have sought out, saved, and studied countless mostly very historical images that pertain to Oceanic Art forms. Some of this imagery I like and am very intrigued with, and some I am not. I came to TC because I found a cut palm log on the side of the road one day and thought "hey I want to carve a tiki." I did not know much about Oceanic Arts, other than the knowledge one might get from your basic college art history classes...so...never having carved anything out of wood before...I just dove in. I never finished this carving as the wood ended up being stringy and really not that good to work with...but my point is, I can see a lack of knowledge in this first carving of mine. I feel more secure in my knowledge and work today.

With rabbits having been referenced earlier on this thread, and now your post showing integrated animal imagery, I can't help but think that I might be a part of the underlying silence concerning just "whom" these un-tiki artists on TC might be...as far as I know, I'm the only soul around here who has tried to integrate Oceanic Art elements on a rabbit canvas. (Other than Buzzy, that is - I believe he tried to carve a rabbit with his chain saw at one point early in his career and damn near cut his head off).

Well, anyway, I think that feedback is one of the best ways for an artist to grow. Of course, feedback can be positive or negative. One of the toughest things for an artist to learn is the ability to take constructive criticism. Some artists tend to take negative criticism of their work as a personal attack. Naturally, artists can't help but feel that their work is an extension of themselves. The old "I poured my heart and soul into that one" kind of a thing. Problem with this is that anytime an artist's work is made available to the public, there will, inevitably, be some not very positive comments. But, how can an artist create something and not show it to the world? It's a catch twenty-two. I would imagine a writer, dancer, or musician would feel very similar about their work as well.

A trained artist, however, should have the ability to know the difference between "it doesn't work for me and this is why", and someone just saying "it doesn't work for me" and not being able to say why. If that artist is smart, they will take what they can use from those negative comments and learn from it. If the artist's opinion is that there is nothing to be learned from the critigue, they can just move on. No harm, no foul.

So having said that, I welcome the TC guantlet...I offer up the throat on this small body of work I have here on TC and humbly pass over a knife...handle first.