This is a story of creative play in the making of the toys for carving in the form of carving knives. Why does this carver continue to make knives for personal use that far exceeds the accumulation of carving knives? The answer is the same as to why carve more of the same design of a carving subject? Why does a carver feel compelled to continue to carve beyond the need for more? Why accumulate more carving wood when there will not be enough time to use what is already on hand? The answer is in the meaning of “creative play” for the child within each of us to fulfill our imagination.
Whittle Doodles are the carving a variety of faces and objects into a block of basswood using only knives. This version began as a six-inch-tall by three-inch square block. It was also personalized for a carving friend who is a pastor in North Carolina as will be seen on one side of the block. As a doodle, what is carved comes about in random imagination making each Whittle Doodle unique and one of a kind.
“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get,” can be adapted to many activities of life. It applies to the carving process, in that the carver does not know how the carving will turn out until it is finished. It is this sense of surprise and serendipity that continues the joy of carving and imaginative creativity ~ we never know what we will get.