Gene Messer is a carving friend to many wood carvers who have followed his tutorials on YouTube, Woodcarving Illustrated Forum and Face book.  http://www.youtube.com/user/whittler0507

He has given me permission to quote his latest and sincerest encouragement and instruction for those who aspire to carve better. His simple words carry a heavy message well worth reading often.  So in Gene’s own words:

To All Young People Wanting to Learn a Craft Such as Woodcarving Or Any Other Craft (Sculpture, Woodworking, Quilting, Painting ,ETC. ) I probably answer questions everyday concerning woodcarving on the videos I produced and the young people ask this question over and over again ..I bet I have answered it a thousand times .. They see you doing a craft and they see your tools (In my case mostly a knife ) and they always ask where they can get that specific tool .. They tell me if I could only get a hold of that tool .. I will be able to carve just like you ..

Maybe as silly as it seems .. they are only being honest .. Unfortunately that is how so many people think today .. They look only at the the object your using and feel that is the key .. I don’t know.. maybe things come too easy to us today .. You want to learn what took me 25 years to learn in a day and its just not possible … so let me just say to the thousands of young people today .. Sorry .. but there’s only one way to learn a craft and be good at it .. My father taught me it .. It’s called dedication and hard work .. Practice , Practice and More Practice .. You heard the old saying “Practice Makes Perfect” .. They were right .. You practice .. you fail , you succeed , you fail again and you just keep doing it until you learn ..Period
With each failure will later come success and you never stop learning .. Too often we give up too easy and are afraid of failure .. (the world says kids today shouldn’t fail today ) But without failure .. success isn’t available ..
If you learn anything in life young people ..please learn this .. Were not born great crafters or artist .. we must be taught and sometimes its a long process and failure is not a option in learning .. it’s a necessity .. and if the world tells you shouldn’t fail .. then you will never know what real success is in life .. You have permission to fail .. for in it .. you will learn growth .. and in growth comes experience and in experience comes learning and in learning comes success .. That’s the way most of us older folks learned it .. and I think it is still the best way ..
So don’t give up so fast when things don’t come easy for you .. They didn’t come easy for us either .. YOU Simply Have To Learn By Doing ..Period ..

Just Some Advice From A Old Worn Out Woodcarver

(Thank You Gene for your many gifts to the woodcarving community, you are a TREASURE.)