The WOOD BEE CARVER has discovered over the years of carving a creative tension that is both “agony” and “ecstasy.”  Experiencing this tension almost every time with any new carving project led me to come up with the following rule: “CARVING IS AGONY AND ECSTASY, BUT ECSTASY ALWAYS FOLLOWS THE AGONY .”

Because wood carving is a “learn by and while doing” and one’s subconscious is at work in the creative process, there is a certain amount of tension (as in  the stretching of a rubber band and an inner power as the rubber band is released and returns to its former state) and in this tension there is a certain inner power at work.  This creative tension can be called the “agony and ecstasy” of the carving process.  Read the rest of this entry »

The WOOD BEE CARVER has always preferred pocket knives that have been refurbished into carving knives as his primary carving tool.  Perhaps it is the nostalgia from boyhood days of whittling with an old pocket knife that adds a little romance to carving with a knife.  Read the rest of this entry »