---- Chris Pye: WOODCARVING - NEWSLETTER ---- November 2005 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com "Dedicated to the teaching, learning and love of woodcarving" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is an opt-in newsletter and you should only be receiving it because you requested it from the website, or were sent it by a friend. Subscribe or Unsubscribe easily on the home page here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/ or using the link at the end of the newsletter. ****Back issues here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/intro/pastnews.html including zipfiles for 2001, 2002 & 2003, 2004 newsletters ============================================================ Hello Everyone! Many, many thanks to everyone who has forwarded this email to friends and family. Please keep passing it on and getting them to add themselves to the distribution list. CONTENTS: 1. Virus Problem! 2. Quick Carving Questions 1. Naming & Signing Carvings? 2. Cleaning a Leather Strop? 3. Writing Any More Books? 4. Space Problem? 3. Learning to Carve II Part 8: 'Transferable Skills' Website Bookmarks at the end. List of Slipstones Woodcarving Manuals Teaching Dates ________________________________________________ 1. VIRUS PROBLEM! ________________________________________________ Essentially: Any of you who have sent in pictures for the Other Carvers or Green Man Galleries, or are in any way expecting me to reply or do something - please write again. All has been lost! Luckily I'm at the keyboard since the gnashing of teeth prevents me saying more. ________________________________________________ 2. QUICK CARVING QUESTIONS ________________________________________________ **** QUESTION 1: NAMING & SIGNING CARVINGS? **** "I have a question regarding how best to sign one's woodcarvings. I've seen some woodburn their signature or print their name with a pen. Any suggestions or preferences that you have for personalizing your carving with your name/signature?" **** ANSWER **** It's really up to you - there's nothing to stop you using a physical method you've seen and liked, so long as you use your own design. I use an engraved brass plate on more substantial carvings; stabbed letters on smaller; and recently now I've pyrographed! You could develop a little logo based on your name, or a monogram of you initials? =================================== **** QUESTION 2: CLEANING A LEATHER STROP? **** "Is it helpful to clean a leather strop when it becomes all black? Or should you just continue to put on more of the compound and continue to use it?" **** ANSWER **** The black makes no difference - it's metal that's been removed. But as this metal in itself won't hone other metal - yes, refresh the strop now and then with a little more paste. You lose a tiny bit any way each time you wipe the blade after stropping. =================================== **** QUESTION 3: WRITING ANY MORE BOOKS? **** "Well, are you?" **** ANSWER **** I have in mind in 2006 to start on 2 books: an 'Introduction To Carving In The Round' and 'Elements 2' - a second companion to my Elements of Woodcarving. =================================== **** QUESTION 4: SPACE PROBLEM? **** "I live in a small apartment and not a lot of money. Do you have any suggestions?" **** ANSWER **** A workbench need only cost next to nothing - some bolts and a few bits of wood. The height needs to be right, and your bench must be stable. I know of someone who has a thick 'shelf' between the walls of an alcove and who carves successfully on that. You could hinge a surface to the wall, with brackets beneath that swing away to allow the 'bench' to fold down. ________________________________________________ 3. NEW SERIES: LEARNING TO CARVE II Part 8: 'TRANSFERABLE SKILLS' ________________________________________________ I answer the phone. There's a small voice and I can almost hear the capital letters: "Yes, hello - I want to carve but... Thing is, I'm completely Inartistic. And I have no Practical Skills whatsoever." "Right. So it's a magic pill for woodcarving you're after then, is it? Made by the fairies at the bottom of my garden?" "Yes, that's the one. Make it a packet please." "You haven't seen my garden. But I'll tell you what: Come and dig it over and we'll have a look together shall we? Bring a shovel. And a dumpster." "Mmmm... What about the workshop elves? Anything doing there?" "A little unpredictable. They won't even look at you unless you're young and handsome. You've got to spend several years at the wrong end of a broom and make endless cups of tea for the Master etc. etc." Enough! I'm not joking however when I say that I hear variations on 'totally impractical' and 'inartistic' fairly often. It's often said with a look of failure or deep regret. I wish people would be kinder to themselves. It's true that we are physically wired differently, are 'gifted' with differing talents and abilities, but I have yet to meet ANYONE who doesn't have SOME practical ability and SOME artistic ability. Perhaps not enough to be the best carver on the block but enough to make a decent fist of carving if they put some effort in, and certainly enough to get a lot of pleasure and satisfaction out of the craft - for themselves and others. How so? Because these same people who claim to be impractical can sharpen a fine point on a pencil, or peel potatoes neatly, or sew on a button, wire a plug and do a huge numbers of practical skills - with the same hands and brain that they would use for carving! And others who claim a lack of artistic ability can tell whether a line is straight or a curve is true, can take a well-balanced photograph, hang a picture straight or doodle interesting shapes... My point is that we use practical skills and make 'artistic' judgements every day of our lives but don't give this the credit it deserves. What we need to add is: * Knowledge: HOW to apply those skills to woodcarving; adapt our abilities to tools and the wood, and * Practice: LEARNING by successes and mistakes; gaining muscle memory and so on. And, at the end of the day - as I keep banging on - there is no substitute for intelligent practice for developing what talent we have, however far it goes. However, and I really believe this: our skills are transferable - far more so than we think. Thus we can readily sell ourselves short. This is the first point I want to make. The second is that sometimes, as a woodcarver, I feel I only do about 5 things, but I do them well. And, for those I have taught, I flag them up as 'pearls'. ("Here's the next pearl - catch!") These would be things like the way I hold and cut with the tool, or paying attention to the wood I am leaving, even as I take more away... Additionally, I don't have special carving techniques for, say, lettering that are different from, say, figure carving. I use the same techniques but transfer them to a different subject. Thus, if you can carve letters well, you'll find you can carve acanthus leaves well - once you understand the design elements. The practical side is in the bag. Give some thought to this idea of transferable skills. It means: * You don't have to re-invent the wheel each time. * You already have far more practical and 'artistic' skills than you thought. * You have many talents and experiences which, when transplanted, will blossom in different soils. That's probably it. And for this little series of thoughts - have I missed anything? ================================================= That's all for this month! Joy and success in your carving! Chris Pye ------------------------- PS: One for the bench: "The more one knows already, the more one still has to learn. Parallel with knowledge, ignorance increases to the same extent, or rather our knowledge about our ignorance." ~ Friedrich von Schlegel ____________________________________________________________ SOME WEBSITE BOOKMARKS ____________________________________________________________ ----------------- SLIPSTONES WOODCARVING MANUALS Help yourself! Full list and details: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/index.html * Quick Carving Questions - 1 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq1.html (Sponsored by Tools for Working Wood: http://www.toolsforworkingwood.com/) * Quick Carving Questions - 2 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq2.html (Sponsored by Classic Hand Tools: http://www.classichandtools.com/) * Quick Carving Questions - 3 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq3.html (Sponsored by Preferred Edge Carving Knives & Supplies: http://www.preferrededge.ca/) * Quick Carving Questions - 4 http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/qcq4.html (Sponsored by The Japan Woodworker: http://www.japanwoodworker.com/) * The Accomplished V Tool 1 - Free evaluation copy http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/v1.html * Learning to Carve - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/learncarving.html * A Guide to Safe Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/safecarving.html * Mistakes and Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/mistakes.html * Fundamentals of Woodcarving - Free eBook http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/fundamentals.html *Slicing, And The Value Of The Inside Bevel With The Chris Pye #2 1/2 Finishing Gouges From Ashley Iles - Free pdf http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/slipstones/slicing.html ----------------- TEACHING * UK (1-TO-1 PERSONAL TUITION) Full details here: http://www.chrispye-woodcarving.com/tuition/t_custom.html Single day: £150 3 days: £360 5 days: £495 Lunch included. Local B&Bs, or possibly staying with myself, hear Hay-on-Wye ('The Town of Books') in a very beautiful part of England, near the Welsh border... * USA (CENTER FOR FURNITURE CRAFTSMANSHIP, MAINE) 2006 http://www.woodschool.org/ June 19 - 23 Wood Sculpture June 26 - July 7 Relief Carving July 10 - 14 Intermediate/Advanced Carving ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright (c) Chris Pye 2005 Chris@chrispye-woodcarving.com ----------------------- -----------------------