Monday, October 18, 2010

Carvers Are Givers

One thing I have noticed, poking around the internet and taking part in conversation on wood carving message board, as well as talking to real carvers whenever possible - cavers are very generous people! Most of us carve for fun. Even carvers who have their work for sale, really do it because they love it. Just do the math to see what even the best carvers get per hour for their work - it's a labor of love. Many of us give our work away as gifts. The reward is knowing something we made by hand is out there as a kind of humble legacy. The way I have found carvers to be most generous is by sharing what they have learned.  We love to talk about knives and wood and get others interested in our art/craft. Read a few messages on the wood carving forum  and you'll seldom see a negative comment. Everyone is very encouraging and positive. It is in that spirit that I offer my own learning experience on this blog. One way I can share is by pointing you guys to others who are as willing as I to share what they know. For me, the Out West Carving blog has been great because not only is the workmanship and valuable tips Lynn offers top notch, but his videos are well produced. You can actually see what he's doing. I will be adding more links to videos and blogs as time goes on. Today I want to point you to 3Crosses Woodcarving. Recently I studied Gary's 3-part video tutorial on eye carving and found it to be very helpful. So check out his site. If you know of a helpful site or have a blog, web site or tutorial of your own, let me know. I'll be glad to add them to my links.

1 comment:

GaryMc said...

Hello Don,I like your blog. YOu write very well and thank ou for mentioning my site. You are right about Lynn and The Woodcarving Illustrated forum, and carver can get a lot of great information from them and here also it appears.
Good luck with your blog and carving!
GaryMc