7/27/10
This past weekend we had a tent and table at an art fair in Owatonna, Minnesota’s. Many people stopped at our tent. Hopefully most were interested in what we had on display. The thing that interested me was how fascinated children were by watching us demonstrate woodcarving. The children were so engrossed by what we were doing that it was difficult for their parents to drag them away. One little boy and his sister were so interested to see what I had in my ‘to do’ bag (cut outs and other wood pieces to work on) that I had to take out every piece for them to inspect and decide what it would be when it was done. They kept score, unfortunately for the boy, his sister won. Another little girl wanted us to make her a carved doll for Christmas. She spouted out details on how the doll would look, “I want her to have a poofy pink dress, I want her to have brown hair and brown eyes like mine, I want her to have a smiley face” and so on. I said ‘do you want her face to be like this?’ and I turned my Jack o' lantern over, “here’s a smiling face.” Her reply was a definite no. Another teenaged boy came back three times to ask questions about our carvings and if we gave lessons.It is exciting to see the interest that children have in the art and also in the process of creating a carving. I wish I would have had the opportunity to start carving at that age. I hope that they will keep their interest so that when they become adults they will take up the art. Unfortunately, in our area, there are very few people who will teach carving to children, mainly because of the danger factor and probably the need for lots of patience.
I suspect one of the reasons that children are interested in woodcarving is because it is a touchable art as compared to paintings, photographs, or drawings. Children wanted to touch our carvings. They were very attracted to them. I think we need to come up with some simple carvings - like the 5 minute owls - so we can give them a sample when they stop by the next time we are at a show.
This past weekend we had a tent and table at an art fair in Owatonna, Minnesota’s. Many people stopped at our tent. Hopefully most were interested in what we had on display. The thing that interested me was how fascinated children were by watching us demonstrate woodcarving. The children were so engrossed by what we were doing that it was difficult for their parents to drag them away. One little boy and his sister were so interested to see what I had in my ‘to do’ bag (cut outs and other wood pieces to work on) that I had to take out every piece for them to inspect and decide what it would be when it was done. They kept score, unfortunately for the boy, his sister won. Another little girl wanted us to make her a carved doll for Christmas. She spouted out details on how the doll would look, “I want her to have a poofy pink dress, I want her to have brown hair and brown eyes like mine, I want her to have a smiley face” and so on. I said ‘do you want her face to be like this?’ and I turned my Jack o' lantern over, “here’s a smiling face.” Her reply was a definite no. Another teenaged boy came back three times to ask questions about our carvings and if we gave lessons.It is exciting to see the interest that children have in the art and also in the process of creating a carving. I wish I would have had the opportunity to start carving at that age. I hope that they will keep their interest so that when they become adults they will take up the art. Unfortunately, in our area, there are very few people who will teach carving to children, mainly because of the danger factor and probably the need for lots of patience.
I suspect one of the reasons that children are interested in woodcarving is because it is a touchable art as compared to paintings, photographs, or drawings. Children wanted to touch our carvings. They were very attracted to them. I think we need to come up with some simple carvings - like the 5 minute owls - so we can give them a sample when they stop by the next time we are at a show.
