a very true realization

you know, no matter what, this stuff takes awhile to make. you can't rush carving. sometimes i really, really want to because i want to see what i see inside me brain come out of the block in my hands. it just doesn't work that way. i wish i could hook up an automatic 5 axis machine to me brain and have it work. it even takes a very long time to model things in 3D software.

i just wanted to voice this. sometimes we see others' works and praise them without thinking about the time that it took to make it.

i know i do. it helps me to step back and think about the time people put into their art. wow. we really have some talented people here and it's amazing that they choose to channel their talents into tiki. it's not the most lucrative art form. it's good to know that people do things because they enjoy it and want others to.

okay. one more beer and off to bed.

mahalo.

True dat :) Especially those of us banging out everything with hand tools

Well there are little steps that can make it worth the process. The over all finished piece is always on the mind and the main drive. But there are the little steps along the way like just finishing the eyes and seeing where the piece is going. That excitement will get you through.

pdrake,

Interesting thread you have going here....

Many a time, I too, have wished that I could hook my brain up to something and hit download. The ideas are plentiful, the time is not. I even keep a round glass fish bowl for which I scratch ideas down on paper...fold them up and toss them inside. Periodically, I go though this fish bowl and weed out the sucker fish....still, many a good fish goes forever un-noticed gliding through the murky waters of this bowl.

Having entered the Autumn of my years, I'm noticing that these untouched ideas are fast becoming even more important to me. In my life, I have always had to run a road that has paralleled a frontage road of what I would consider my bliss...still, I have had to house, feed, and love a family too....this is also very, very important to me. Like all artists, now and in the past, I wished that everyone one on the planet understood and rewarded artists for their talents. It sucks that the old "starving artist" precursor is the norm.

Well, having vented that, and now that I have put in place some foundations in my life...I want to change....I would like to exit onto this frontage road. Though late, I want to follow my bliss. I want to play out what I consider my role in the act of living.

But, as you mentioned, it sure would be much easier with automated 5 axis machine hooked to my brain :-) Ahhh...if Michelangelo only had air tools.

Free the good fish!,

Babalu

• In my life, I have always had to run a road that has paralleled a frontage road of what I would consider my bliss...still, I have had to house, feed, and love a family too.... *

I believe that the first step for being an artist is not when you first grab a new tool in your hands, although that is an important milestone, but when your mind starts thinking of new possibilities, of new ideas, of new works of art to produce some day. With this definition, Babulu, you have been an artist all your life -- you are just waiting for the chance to metamorphize into a true, producing artist, that can design and create tangible results for others to look at and hold in their hands.

So many people in life have no urge to create, or are simply content being consumers of art, and not interested in all in picking up the paintbrush or chisel. So many people are completely oblivious to that artistic frontage road that lies parallel to them - all they see is the road ahead, and perhaps an ocassional exit sign.

I also appreciate those who have decided to create art, and to those who have spent many, many hours learning their tradecraft.

Vern

I like the idea of tossing the ideas into a bowl. I'm sure many of us just use a notebook or any available scratch paper or napkins etc. They kinda pile up and do need to be weeded out periodically.

When it comes to ideas, I have always been a real fan of the brainstorming session. When you get with a group of folks and just let ideas flow. I believe it is much more sucessful to do in person than in a cyber environment though mostly because of the simultaneous concentration of those assembled. If I had more carvers located near by like some of you do, I would like to have regular get togethers to just discuss ideas and throw out suggestions for projects or group work. It is amazing what can emerge from these sessions. How are you deciding what art project to work on next? Are you just reaching in to the fish bowl and drawing something at random?

[i]On 2007-02-24 09:56, 8FT Tiki wrote:[/i

When it comes to ideas, I have always been a real fan of the brainstorming session. When you get with a group of folks and just let ideas flow. I believe it is much more sucessful to do in person than in a cyber environment though mostly because of the simultaneous concentration of those assembled. If I had more carvers located near by like some of you do, I would like to have regular get togethers to just discuss ideas and throw out suggestions for projects or group work. It is amazing what can emerge from these sessions. How are you deciding what art project to work on next? Are you just reaching in to the fish bowl and drawing something at random?

*You've just described the carvers version of a musos' jam-session! Rock on.

I also think the idea-fishbowl a good idea; in fact just having a PLACE for those loose-leaf jottings is a good idea! (the mental fishbowl gets a bit murky, eh?) Another good one is to carry a dictaphone, you can pick 2nd hand ones up really cheaply these days & can be very handy. I used to carry one for writing down lyrics as they came to mind. As we all know, inspiration can hit anytime. Getting off the point a bit perhaps? What was the point again?

Oh yeah; ideas happening quickly but the mortal carver too slow to bring them all to reality...
I believe that the mind/imagination is a 'novelty-machine', constantly turning things over & making connections that arent instantly apparent or better yet, werent there to begin with, but all 'etheric' stuff of course. It is up to the artist to actually make something happen in this world (where other people can see it) With so much random(?) creation buzzing away in the back-room there, it takes a bit of training/practice/discipline/self-control, etc to pull a concrete one from the noise. You have to really focus to transpose one from the mental realm into the physical & have it arrive as 'dreamed'. With the mind moving/responding to stimulus so rapidly, how many of you have felt the urge to change a work 1000 times as new ideas spring from what you have in front of you. Sometimes you let them evolve, sometimes you grit your teeth & carry on as intended (tucking the new thoughts into the mental fishbowl to be dredged for another day).

Phew - Im rambling (so many thoughts, heehee) Ill leave it there.

Yes, carving/creating is a pretty magical business when you really stop & think about it. I can honestly say that I stop & gives thanks to the fact that I am lucky enough to immerse myself in this stuff every day! I feel as though I have achieved success on a daily basis to be living this dream. pdrake's right; its not the most financially rewarding career; I know award-winning painters & sculptors/carvers who are living on the borderline of poverty & have shaken my fist at the sky many times at the injustice of it all. On the other hand though; how many people REALLY enjoy their work to the point where they would be doing it anyway, for no money? (in a hobby sence at least) I/they/we do this by choice & as long as we can survive on it, wouldnt have it any other way. WE are the lucky ones (shhhhhh.... dont tell 'The Man') :lol: :wink:

Tama :)

Henry Miller said it best..."Shut up and Paint."
About 5% of all artists actually do that and nothing more...lucky bastards!
But ,as mentioned above...Family/Work/domestic crap gets in the way! Nobody's gonna care what you do with your time,so YOU have to grab those reins,suck it up and just do it!! May i suggest coffee,cigarettes,and energy pills? Besides pure stoke and motivation from fellow arteests,that's what keeps me going! True, the time is torturous,especially when you're halfway done with a piece and can see it in your mind,but not in the physical world..The best pieces are the ones made for yourself,your loves,your interests,and your focus all come together effortlessly! Great thread!

Pdrake, you are right this stuff does take a lot of time to make. But as long as you have passion to create, time seems to mean nothing. I find myself carving when I have a few minutes here and there and it becomes a few hours or longer and I am not even aware of time passing so quickly. True art can not be created just for making money. To me art in general is a form of expression. I do appreciate everything I see here on TC and I learn from it and it helps me create in return. And yes it takes a long time to do, darn it.

[ Edited by: hiltiki 2007-02-24 18:10 ]

One big problem for me is I don't think I've ever finished anything I've ever started. I have alot of projects. WTF?? Any psycology peeps??

On 2007-02-24 18:20, The Sperm Whale wrote:
One big problem for me is I don't think I've ever finished anything I've ever started. I have alot of projects. WTF?? Any psycology peeps??

Definate committment issues... (no sisters..?) :lol:

Yes, thats another thing that that you're average non-arteest doesnt realise. Its easy to have an idea & to make a start, but seeing a work through to its completion often gets tougher & tougher as the piece progresses. Mentally difficult mainly; I always want to get on with the next idea once a piece is basically roughed out & have to fight to retain interest once into the sanding stages (hence the legendary '80') Yes, committment issues...

Tama :)

Id just like to add that sometimes I like that it can be such a pain - if it was easy everybody would be doing it. I was carving at home one day and the girlfriends younger sister was over. She said "I wouldnt have the patience to do that" and I was thinking "Yeh, isnt it great?". I had a mate over who was checking out one of my tikis and he's like "how long did that take you?" (hollowing out a mouth). Took me a couple of hours with a chisel. He's like "that woulda taken 1 minute with a chainsaw" and Im thinking yeh, but when Im sitting their chiseling away Im relaxin, so Im not too fussed about it. I also like that its all done by hand.

I love the excitement of chopping into a new piece, the excitement (and frustration) as the wood f***s with you and makes you take a different approach or look to the tiki - with both good and bad results. I love standing back from a piece and thinking "yes, this is coming along sweet". I love finishing a piece and thinking "heyah, this isnt half bad" (and then studying it for 5 minutes and finding all the pieces you want to fix up! hahaha).

Sanding sucks.

Hey Sperm Whale,

I am also guilty of having done this a time or two...for me, sometimes I will get something (it doesn't need to be a carving) started and then just not work on it anymore. I have thought about why? I believe the reason is that whatever the project might be, it's already 100% done in my mind...no reason to finish...onto the next thing.

One thing you might try, if you have a grouping of unfinished carvings lying around, is just to pick one from the lot and call it done....go buy a small can of stain and some satin clear coat and slap the stuff on. I think once you see how gorgeous and juicy it all looks with the finish on it, this might encourage you to put some completion to the other works?

Just food for thought,

Babalu

Some real interesting thoughts guys. I like Sperm Whale used to have loads of unfinished stuff. I think I have a real short attention span.
If I had an idea, I just had to start the project in case I forgot the idea?? Until it dawned on me that if I had lots of projects on the go, and got bored of doing one specific task, I'd put the piece down, the result was twice the amount of finished pieces, figure that one out.
Regards
Flynny

It ain't easy. And when somebody makes it look easy, it was years of blood, sweat, tears, ER trips, trial, error, passion, finding their style and sticking with it that got them to that point. It doesn't just happen like instant grits. From the standpoint of knowing what it's like to be a carver I have a lot of respect when I look at anything of bona-fide craftsmanship. Even across genres...I look at a show like "American Chopper" and gasp at the perfection those guys churn out. Like Pendleton wool...like a Cuban Cigar...like a Schuetzen pistol..or a Macallan Scotch..or a D'Angelico guitar, or a Stradavari violin. Point "A" to point "B" is a long, long way for anything that's really, truly a standout.

[ Edited by: Basement Kahuna 2007-02-26 21:26 ]

"I look at a show like "American Chopper" and gasp at the perfection those guys churn out"
-BK

Not sure how to take that line. I love watching that show and the bikes that come out of there are cool but I agree with the idea that in some cases they are just cake-decorators.

I've followed this thread from the start and just couldn't figure out how to jump in. I'm not too great at creating the words to express my feelings but i Know that when you start talking about the creativity process you will get as many ideas why this or that is the reason or everything and it gets all jumbled up in my feeble mind. I do know that beginning any carving is a challenge starting with drawing what you want to crate onto the wood. Weather you copy it from a pattern or totally freehand it, once you set the tools to the media, things change. Like Tama said you can keep to the plan and not let those irregularities sway you or you can make the changes and adjust things as you go. Both paths can produce excellent work and I'm not here to say either is good or bad. For me the challenge is in letting those changes take place and trying to figure out how to make them look right. I do not enjoy doing "taxidermy" carving, my thing is to keep the basic idea and shape but to make it look different at the same time. Every bit of detail is a challenge to be conquered and when that is done there is another one it created that must be fixed . I like to give Non human pieces human features and make them Seem human and not human. weather you are painting, carving, squishing clay playing a musical instrument, singing or even banging on rocks making small rocks, the creative process involves these challenges and meeting them and winning them is what makes Me feel happy and satisfied. it's where my enjoyment comes from.

I hear you Ben. To me, a carving is a "living thing" as it evolves and changes along the way. Over the years I have always started with an idea of where I wanted to end up, but the true enjoyment for me is the way I get there. I wouldn't want to "decorate cakes" or "carve by numbers." I like to go with the flow, think, then execute.

My lungs hurt now. You guys are messing with my head. I've got some serious psycho-symatic symptoms going on over here....

-Gman