Starting Out

Welcome to The Sharpening Stone!  I have chosen this title because part of the mission of this blog is to sharpen, or refine, thoughts on carving (and revealing processes in general) and their ramifications.  If something in this blog rubs you to respond, please do, as I encourage comments.

There has been a grain of something in my mind for quite a while now - the urge to create something that takes up physical space.  Carving seems to be filling this niche, though I would say that it surely does more than that as I've always had an attraction to carving; its aesthetics, methods, metaphors.  Carving, ancient and rugged, seemed like an activity that Thoreau would constantly be doing - some outdoors-y, creative, meditative art.  My mind (without my permission) has applied this generalization to all carvings throughout history.  The Rosetta Stone, the Sphinx, the Pieta have all - as their forms were exposed - also revealed the Thoreau within the carver.  

Yet carving, like Thoreau, wants to get at some form.  Thoreau states that he went to the woods to get at life, to trap it in a corner (however mean it may be), to get down to the bottom of it.  And while someone carves, though they have something in mind for the final product, they are at some level simply revealing the figure waiting to be brought out of the wood.  

I wonder if Thoreau had something in mind, some pre-conceived notion, during his search for a common denominator of life?  I imagine that he would argue against that postulation.  I like to think not.  But that is perhaps because I am now a carver as well.

Wait... was he a carver? :)

And so, in accordance with this Everyman Thoreau within me, I will begin my odyssey with a list and the cost of the items.

Flexcut Carving Knives (4 set): $55

Woodcarving Guide Book: $18

Rasp and additional fine-grain attachment: $19

Medium and fine sharpening stones: $49

Finger and thumb guards: $4

Ace Hardware saw: $13

Sharpening strop: $24

Small basswood, butternut, and tupelo blocks: $2 each

Large basswood block: $23

Shipping for all items: $23

Total: $234

For my first project, I decided to attempt to replicate an item that I saw recently at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.  It was a small robed figure of ancient Chinese origin, standing about 3 inches tall.  I picked up a tupelo block, sawed off a segment, and began carving.  I promptly cut myself.

The carving took about 5 hours total.  I decided to leave him rough (with the chip-marks still showing) because I thought it befit the clothing.  Here is the final product.

He came out a little more dark/gothic than I had intended, but still achieved some sort of balance and character.  Had I the right tools, I might have hollowed out the inside of his cowl.  This may be a model that I return to when I'm a bit better and have more physical and mental tools.