- Thinking this morning about the differences between painters and sculptors; how “the world” supports painters with an infinite number of how-to books and magazines and galleries and this and that and other stuff, and how there are, give or take, five books about how to be a sculptor, all published by Dover and written before 1960, and that’s it. Plus one magazine that’s too obtuse to read and certainly is no how-to in the sense that Water Media or Artist or anything by North Light is a how-to. (Plus the British WoodCarving magazine, which is fabulous.)
- It is not lost on me that the vast majority of those how-to books sit on bookshelves unread; certainly unused, as do most of the tubes of paint sold in sets this time of year, and maybe even most tubes of paint period. It is also possible that some of the energy of 3D people is absorbed in woodworking books–the casework and furniture people, and perhaps even the turners. Clay people have some more resources than wood. Acknowledgment made.
- What’s this about?
- Somehow 3D scares people an a way that 2D doesn’t? Primitive art is full of statues; could be they just lasted better than whatever flat art they made back then. I’m not an archeologist. But I am also a painter, certainly a colorist, and it galls me no end that I am forced to carve my canvas before I can paint it.
- I talked to a fellow sculptor about this two weeks ago; he advised me to stick to sculpture; there are fewer of us and way too many painters in Vietnam churning out cheap oils. More competition in the flat art world. Perhaps. Said he worked in 3D and I certainly (can) think in 3D and why force myself into a thought-form that’s not natural? In the end it would be just as uncomfortable as my current day-job. (Not true all the way to “just as,” but I get the point: My day-job involves working with ISTJs when I am an INFP.)
- However, if we all followed this model, the Sistine Chapel would have a sky-blue roof.
- So. I’ve been writing for 4 hours about this already this morning, trying to work it out for myself. Finally that quiet little inside voice piped up that said, “Both. You are both.” Sculptor and painter.* # Some ideas come to me, admittedly not many, in the form of flat art. They need to birthed in that form, regardless of the problem that I don’t know how to paint flat art. Other ideas, many more ideas, are clearly intended to be sculpture, and I need to carve those. And it’s not my call about which is which, and it’s not my place to ignore the ideas that arrive in a 2D vision.
- You can’t kill some of the ideas that come to you without polluting the source. For today, the flat art ideas gestate in their own notebook and one day they’ll get painted or collaged or some how given more life.
- Pragmatic thought: A friend brought his Ramrod Taskmaster (personal forklift) over to help move a mature camellia yesterday. In no time at all, he also cleaned up my woodpile. This is a $10,000 tool. A) Either I sell enough sculpture to be able to afford my own Ramrod Taskmaster (on top of the mortgage and insurance and disability and etc I’ll need when I’m a full-time artist) or B) I’m going to have to find a different form of art before I’m 30 years older. There are plenty of very old artists in the world. None of them does/did his or her own heavy lifting.
- *Sad but true: It took me 17 years the first time, and 13 years the second, to learn I can sing after a) my 8th grade teacher said someone in my trio was flat and I assumed she meant me and b) my choir director frowned when she looked my way too many times. It only took me 10 days to recover from being told I shouldn’t be a painter. This is progress. (An aside: How do musicians gestate their ideas, and do they worry about form–vocal vs. instrumental, different instruments, solo vs. chorale?)
- #Clearly, I am also a writer, but I take that so much for granted that I don’t even think about it.
When Sculpting is a Pain in the Tail, and other questions about Art Form
Knitting Returns
December 26, 2003 Friday I am knitting again. It feels like I never stopped; my hands don’t miss a stitch. How could I have not been doing this for so long? I have been a knitter as long as I can remember and got very serious in 1986 in an attempt, eventually successful, to reduce…
Kekule’s Dream: The Carving
Long run. Sanford AutumnFest; sold the first frog and two flamingos. Carve more. Out-of-town funeral. Hurricane Isabel; no significant local damage = no free carving wood. Durham Centerfest, sold ButlerBear, a birdhouse, and Kekule’s Dream. Carve more ButlerBears. Durham was the first show where people got the joke in Kekule. Shouldn’t be surprised–the scientists from…
A visit from the zoning fairy
I’m going to consider this a warning shot. One of my neighbors complained that I was running a business in a residential zone. Well, I am, and that’s legal, as long as I’m not selling from my home, which I’m not. Unfortunately, that’s as much because I’m not selling much as because I don’t sell…
Chainsaw Carving Repetitive Stress Injury
I get recurrent trigger finger in the ring fingers of both hands; clearly chainsaw-driven. Trigger finger is when your finger “snaps” when you bend it; it won’t bend smoothly because the tendon gets swollen just outside of the tendon sheath. Makes it hard to get the ibuprophen out of the bottle. Hand surgeon told me…
Spalting
Does exposure to air stop spalt? What about burning? I’m carving a polar bear for the zoo; plan to stain it with oil-based white stain. But the only piece of wood in the pile that’s big enough for what I had planned is pretty thoroughly spalted sycamore–cut 4 years ago, standing vertically since. Beautifully soft;…
In-process carving notes
July 7, 2003 Giraffes Help. I just carved another nice piece of kindling in the general shape of a giraffe and spent an hour on the effort. Realized it was hopeless not long into it but had an audience and didn’t want to bail in front of a crowd. Can’t get the head/body angle right–is…
Sawdust in my Boots
Randy and I were talking about this last night and I realized I am not alone. How do you keep sawdust out of your boots? a) I am already wearing the longest chaps Stihl makes and they don’t quite cover the tops of ankle-high boots. b) “Carve barefoot” is not a valid answer. thx…
Moncure Iron Pour
Topsail Island with my parents and niece, post pre-order shipping for Carve Smart, pre-fall show rush of carving. Events: Carve Smart publication; iron pour at the Moncure Museum of Art; started painting. 1. Proof copies of Carve Smart arrived; thank goodness I had already proofed the text because I found it almost impossible to actually…
Artistic life
Post-bronchitis, post-installing three concurrent shows, post-Moore County Arts Council Tour de Moncure show opening, the first with my name on the postcard (along with nine other artists). Busy weekend and it’s still only Sunday morning! 1. Acknowledge that this is the first time I’ve been able to stock three concurrent shows–Willow Walk in Burlington, Moore…