As the old saying goes, “Nothing ventured is nothing gained,” therein is the motivation within undertaking a “venture” which becomes an “adventure.” Venture is defined as “an undertaking involving chance, risk or danger.” Or, “a venture is a project or activity which is new, exciting, and difficult because it involves the risk of failure.” Add to this meaning of “venture” is an expansion of it meaning to become ADVENTURE which is defined as “an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity. Adventure is a journey of life as in learning, imagination, new experiences, experimentation, inventing, and hobby that expands the mind and skills with opportunities to grow and learn.
Carving is an art form and art in its various forms is basically an “interpretation” of the imagination of the artist. Woody of Toy Story is a cartoon figure toy who became the subject carving project interpreting Woody as a caricature figure. In 2011 Jesse of Toy Story was carved as a caricature and now Woody has been carved to join Jesse as a caricature figure.
In an old Western border town jail two inmates are trying to loosen a bar in the window for a planned escape. Skinny weights a mere 170 pounds and Tiny weight 230 pounds. Finally, they loosened the middle bar enough that they wiggle it out and Skinny squeezes himself through the remaining bars. Tiny tries to squeeze through but is too fat and gets stuck half way out and half way in. Thus, the old saying, “Thin is in but Fat is where it is at,” came into play.
DON MERTZ COLLECTION HELVIE KNIVES SIG SERIES 21 #0001 W/CARVED BLADE COVER (see photo) is the current knife listed on eBay. Since the Wood Bee Carver has retired from teaching and participating in carving shows he no longer carries an inventory of his Helvie Signature Series Knives. He is liquidating his personal collection of #1 and #2 of the Signature Series Knives as they were made by issuing three knives a week for the bidding process. Half way through the liquidation there are approximately 24 more knives to be listed. These knives were designed by the Wood Bee Carver with a curved cutting edge and specially designed shapes to aid in the Whittle-Carving process and made by HELVIE KNIVES. If interested is taking a look, go to eBay and search for “DON MERTZ COLLECTION HELVIE KNIVES…” to follow along the process.
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.
“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.
Rich Smithson of Helvie Knives has written a history sketch of the Wood Bee Carver Signature Series knives. The photo above is a photo of the # 1 – Universal Whittler (at top) Prototype of # 2 (in middle) and # 2 – Scimitar (at bottom). The prototype in the middle was made early on with an oak wood handle as a trial run with the cherry wood handle becoming the accepted handle. There were many prototypes of the various blade shapes designed by Mertz and Rich would make. Mertz would test and offer suggestions for blade revisions and handle shape, back and forth until a prototype passed the test and Rich would put it in projection. Rich was always eager to try a new Mertz design and always developed each design into another Signature Series Knife.
The explanation for why this Old Carver continues to make Other Knives is in an old saying: “Give a monkey a gum wrapper to entertain him for the rest of the day.” Monkeying around with making carving knives is an entertainment for this Old Carver. These knives are made for personal use to experiment with blade shapes that are versatile in the carving process especially for miniature Whittle-Carving.