Direct Carving
My great teacher, Tom Blodgett, said: "The creative act is one of desperation." The logic behind this is that if you are doing something you
know how to do, you may be very good at it, but you are just repeating something you have learned before. Whereas when you really go out on a limb, when you have no solutions, when you are about to fail, that is when adrenaline kicks in and you pull out the creative act. attempt to put myself in the most critical and dangerous situations to ensure that this principle keeps me on my toes scrambling for solutions.
Putting the whole project in jeopardy is the best way to make it a success. I'll take a stone I have spent months to obtain and thousands of dollars to purchase, then blast into it with heavy machines, with no idea what I am doing. Or paint a scene in the last light of day, knowing that the light is changing every minute. That is the way it feels to create. There is a time towards the end when you can slow down and carefully carve or paint in the finishing touches, when the experience is calmer. But the bulk of the time it is a near mortal battle. Creativity = Desperation. (more)
know how to do, you may be very good at it, but you are just repeating something you have learned before. Whereas when you really go out on a limb, when you have no solutions, when you are about to fail, that is when adrenaline kicks in and you pull out the creative act. attempt to put myself in the most critical and dangerous situations to ensure that this principle keeps me on my toes scrambling for solutions.
Putting the whole project in jeopardy is the best way to make it a success. I'll take a stone I have spent months to obtain and thousands of dollars to purchase, then blast into it with heavy machines, with no idea what I am doing. Or paint a scene in the last light of day, knowing that the light is changing every minute. That is the way it feels to create. There is a time towards the end when you can slow down and carefully carve or paint in the finishing touches, when the experience is calmer. But the bulk of the time it is a near mortal battle. Creativity = Desperation. (more)
Profile Carving
I lived and carved in Italy for many years and believe there is another explanation of how Michelangelo and others worked. For thousands of
years stone workers carved before there were safety glasses. Loss of an eye was unacceptable. With all the building and carved work to be done they could not afford to loose workmen to eye injury. The chisel when it is in contact with the stone is held at an angle such as you can say it has aleading edge and a trailing edge to the cutting surface. If you look at the front cutting leading edge you will quickly go blind. Where as if you look at the underneath trailing edge of the chisel you can carve all day and never get anything in your eye. It is said Michelangelo could cleave off massive chips several inches thick. He would have sent those chips flying safely away from him not wanting to risk his eyesight. In order to look behind and underneath your chisel and to cleave off the largest pieces possible with each blow, he carved only the extreme edge of the block, carving the profile of his figure. With every blow the point of the chisel slips behind the
block and out of view. The chip is sent flying away...(more)
years stone workers carved before there were safety glasses. Loss of an eye was unacceptable. With all the building and carved work to be done they could not afford to loose workmen to eye injury. The chisel when it is in contact with the stone is held at an angle such as you can say it has aleading edge and a trailing edge to the cutting surface. If you look at the front cutting leading edge you will quickly go blind. Where as if you look at the underneath trailing edge of the chisel you can carve all day and never get anything in your eye. It is said Michelangelo could cleave off massive chips several inches thick. He would have sent those chips flying safely away from him not wanting to risk his eyesight. In order to look behind and underneath your chisel and to cleave off the largest pieces possible with each blow, he carved only the extreme edge of the block, carving the profile of his figure. With every blow the point of the chisel slips behind the
block and out of view. The chip is sent flying away...(more)
The Creative Process
The creative process is about magic and believing in miracles. It is about trusting that the process will guide us. It borders on the spiritual, in that a connection is made for which words seem inadequate, yet we witness it. In fact this connection is a sign that
the process is working. While doing gymnastics, flips, and tumbling, my gym teacher explained that if you don’t really go for the trick, if you hold back at all, you will not have enough altitude and will surely break your neck. It is a very graphic example of a principle, of the creative process that extends itself to all disciplines, and so should be understood as
fundamental. Jump off the edge. If you think you know what you are doing, you are acting from a point of confidence
and knowledge. The creative process happens once you have jumped, and you don’t have any solutions. Once you have surrendered to your fear, given up your control, the magic happens. The doors of perception open and there is a flood of emotion as the first wave hits and
your free fall turns into flight....(more)
the process is working. While doing gymnastics, flips, and tumbling, my gym teacher explained that if you don’t really go for the trick, if you hold back at all, you will not have enough altitude and will surely break your neck. It is a very graphic example of a principle, of the creative process that extends itself to all disciplines, and so should be understood as
fundamental. Jump off the edge. If you think you know what you are doing, you are acting from a point of confidence
and knowledge. The creative process happens once you have jumped, and you don’t have any solutions. Once you have surrendered to your fear, given up your control, the magic happens. The doors of perception open and there is a flood of emotion as the first wave hits and
your free fall turns into flight....(more)