Notes3

Ridgway Rendezvous 2003 Notes 3
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	In the winter time, plenty of people burn scrap wood in 55-gal drums to keep warm outside. At Ridgway, they poured a little oil on a log and lit it, and got the same effect. There was no shortage of wood scrap to keep the burner going. Some people even carved tree wizards in the side of the fire log, and the wizard's eyes glowed ember-red in the late afternoon gloom. The auction on Saturday afternoon was a lesson in marketing and meeting the needs of the buying public. "It's a people's art--if it were marble or bronze, they'd never be able to afford it." "If it doesn't tell a story and you can't sit on it, it won't sell." That statement was borne out by sale prices, for the most part. Bears sell, but for the record, the three top-selling carvings weren’t bears (ram, dragonfly, and angelfish).	Joe King and fire log.
	Northern PA is still cold at the end of February. Perhaps unfortunately, it wasn't quite cold enough--the field would have been easier to navigate if the temperature had stayed just below freezing, rather than just above. Butch Kuchta said, "All we need is a rock band and a couple of naked people and we'd have Woodstock, " but we couldn't find any volunteers.

	Firehouse Field on Saturday morning.
	What do I know today that I didn’t know two weeks ago? Complete sculptures can be created with two tanks of gas each; I watched three different people do it. (Self-justification: they were not working in oak.) I need to practice carving faster. If you put 180 c/s carvers together in a room, they will break into conversations about sprockets and pitch and sharpening angles and dime vs quarter tips and Stihl vs Oregon chain without anyone raising an eyebrow, or being bored. I am not the only carver who overcuts. (I have the pictures to prove it. Please contact me privately if you don’t want me to post the pictures…) Now that I’ve seen the work of 180 other carvers, I realize I am a better carver than I thought. The next steps are in the direction of speed and strength rather than artistic vision; I’m doing just fine on that front. I need to develop some kind of carving to do at an exhibition. Most importantly, although the majority of people at the ‘Vous are part-time carvers, it is completely possible to make a living in this field, and I would not be the only person carving whose resume includes years in a Fortune 500 company. I am encouraged. Stay tuned.

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