Writing a blog about woodcarving and wondering: what keeps bloggers going?

Sometimes it is hard to find the time to keep writing blog posts. Recently, it has certainly felt that way.

It isn't due to a single reason. I'm currently giving my website a complete overhaul to bring it into the modern world after thirteen years of loyal service. A new Facebook page needs updating now and again with projects that could also be written about here. A fairly debilitating injury also kept me out of my studio for about a month and made it hard to create new work to write about (it's a lot better now though).

When looking at the stats for the blog and unexpectedly seeing thousands of hits, then realising that they are obviously Russian spambots, it can seem a bit futile carrying on putting in the research and writing time to create worthwhile posts. They are written, sent out into the void and often that is it, apart from some stats that may or may not be some form of spam. It's a feeling that I'm sure other bloggers know all too well.

But then sometimes something happens to remind you why it is worthwhile. This morning I received an email from a Dr Basman, who is writing an academic paper on the way that 'software should aspire to the vernacular and personal values of the Arts and Crafts movement'. He asked if he could cite and use images from my post about meeting the spoon carver 'Barn the Spoon'. 

I really appreciated being asked but it was also great to know that someone out there is interested enough to want to use material from this blog in that kind of way. I also know that a school in the US lists my post about ancient Egyptian woodworking as recommended course reading for its students.

These things make writing blog posts worthwhile. I love hearing from people who have read them and found something there of interest. A lot of original research has gone into many of these posts, much of it unavailable anywhere else on the web to my knowledge. Any gains from writing here are certainly not financial! 

So, hopefully without sounding sycophantic or schmaltzy, I just wanted to say thank you for reading my blog. I hope that you enjoy it and, if there is anything that interests you, please do feel free to get in touch. It's great to know that you're out there.

Unless you're a spambot!

Woodcarving and working for a living

Whilst looking at the posts that I've put on the blog recently, I've realised how few of them are about carvings that are being worked on!

There's been a lot of work lately that has been more joinery/construction related, but I'm still running occasional carving workshops and making commissioned pieces. I suppose that I see the different strands of what I do as all being part of the same thing. I hope that you enjoy sharing it with me.

The work at Boiling Wells for St Werburghs City farm is something that I'm very lucky to have. As well as a bit of regular money coming in (handy when carving work is sporadic), it also gives the opportunity to work with some really amazing people of all ages and to be outdoors in what is about as close to nature as the British urban environment can get. Even when other work commitments mean that I miss doing some carving, it just makes getting back to the bench even sweeter.

I suppose that the same might be true for others who do jobs that make them wish they could be carving instead. I wouldn't want to speak for everyone (there are some pretty dreadful jobs out there!) but getting back to making feels even better for the time spent away from it.
Do I envy those who carve all the time for a living?      
Hmmm... I'm not sure that I do. It has to be said, first of all, that most professional carvers that I've met do have other work strands to keep them going in the hard times. It's good to be able to leave the bench, meet people and get a bit of sunshine (although British weather can mean that the latter isn't always possible!) Even top carvers frequently do a fair bit of teaching work to keep the money coming in.

It also helps to stop carving from feeling like the daily grind, which is occasionally possible even in a  job that you love. Ian Norbury once wrote:
'Do not envy the slick virtuosity of the trained professional carver - he trained in a hard school that left him with little time for self-expression and he will probably never regain what you have - the urge to transform your vision into wood.'    

Sometimes it's nice to have that space in which to enjoy carving.                                                              

Beds, benches and giant creepy crawlies

Apart for carving the Matthew figurehead, I just thought I'd post information about a few other projects and potential projects that are on the go at the moment...

I'm making a king-size bed for my friends Andy and Victoria, using Lawson cypress from the same trees that provided the timber for the Matthew figurehead. These trees grew next to Ashton Court in Bristol and were real local landmarks, so it's great to be able to be able to turn their timber into things that will be genuinely appreciated for the wood's background story too. I'm also hoping to set a lovely piece of driftwood into the headboard that I collected on a beach near their house on the day of their wedding. This is a picture of that beach...

Next week sees the beginning of a project building some benches in a wood on Pur Down, on the edge of Bristol. The site is not far from where I have been building a pizza oven recently. I'll be working with local young people as well as Anna from St Werburgh's City Farm and Steve England, a local outdoorsman with a lot of local knowledge. It should be good fun and hopefully will be a stepping stone to getting Pur Down more respected and maintained after some time without structured management. It is a beautiful and interesting place and has some fascinating history. You can go to Steve's website by clicking on this link...website. Worth a look, with info about Pur Down which is a very important place to Steve.

There will also be more work with local young people coming up at Boiling Wells and possibly also with an organisation called Groundwork, who have asked if I'm interested in assisting with some conservation management and maybe also running some short courses. Early days, as they have only just been in touch, but sounding interesting. I may also be running a carving workshop for my driving instructor later in the year!

Yesterday I went to a stretch of disused railway line near Pucklechurch, which has been turned into a cycle path by volunteers. The path will connect Bristol and Yate. There is a chance that I could make a bench to go there and I discussed ideas with Rachel Goodchild, from an organisation called Art Express, who is looking to get some sculptures situated along the path. I fancy making a bench in the shape of a giant creepy crawley, as the area is rich in coal seams that were laid down during the Carboniferous period (about 300 million years ago). At that time, giant creepy crawlies were commonplace- huge dragonflies, scorpions and an ancestor of centipedes and millipedes which grew to about 20 feet long! It would be a great project, but I know from experience not to get too excited about these things until it is all confirmed and definite. Learnt that little lesson the hard way, and no mistake!