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 »