LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner
46K views 173 replies 31 participants last post by  patron 
#1 ·
The Journey's Beginning

Oct. 1/10

Preface: Jordan has asked that we save our shoe carving projects for a grand unveiling when we have completed the challenge and I will do that, however, I want to blog about the experience, from a personal level, to document my journey of self-awareness and personal growth. To do that I need to go back to the beginning…

A week or so ago, Jordan Straker jokingly said something about posting a tutorial, teaching people how to "see" and to carve a shoe. What I have come to know about myself is that I am a great cheerleader. What I lack in hands-on skills I make up in my ability to motivate others to move forward and to fulfill their visions and dreams. (I think Martin also says something about this when he talks about our conversations when I first contacted him with ideas about the site.)

Anyway, I had to jump on Jordan's statement and try my best to see it come to fruition. What a great opportunity for Jordan, for our members, and for LumberJocks.com! Now, you know the saying, "Be careful what you wish for", well, Jordan took up the challenge and I, having made a personal pledge of following through with statements I've made and to take up opportunities that offer themselves, felt that since I pushed for the challenge I should participate. "Put your money where you mouth is" would be the motivating wisdom.

As I usually do when I find myself going into unfamiliar territories because of something that I have said I would do, I blocked my emotions, trying my best to ignore the fears of giving it a try. "Just jump in and do it" and the fears will take care of themselves. I mean once you are doing something you can't be afraid of starting, can you, since you have already started!

And so for the past week I have been waiting for that point where I've already started so I could let go of the emotional blocking. Underneath that veil of blankness I could still feel the anxieties just dying to be acknowledged. The result of this emotional non-battle battle was that I didn't choose my shoe until this morning. When I sent the picture to Jordan, as requested, I told him why I had had such a hard time choosing: I have two pairs of running shoes; both are identical. So which one should I choose?? The two identical pairs is the truth. The procrastination was the refusal to engage "fear".

Step 1: The Template
Today, I have the wood, the shoe, the Dremel bits, and Jordan's first lessons. And so the journey begins. I've now jumped the hurdle of the first "beginning".

A running joke here in this house is my lack of ability to judge distance (as well as to read a measuring tape in anything less than 1/4 inches. So it was no surprise to me that the vision in my mind of a running shoe "half the size of the original" was way off.

Now, I know that Jordan said to measure, to make sure the copy of the template was indeed 50% but I had to measure twice in order to believe that the 2" distance was now 1" .. and then half the length was indeed 50%. No wonder Prez laughed at me when I was looking at the pieces of basswood at the Wood Show today! I could make two or three pairs with the chunk of wood I picked out. Of course, I did buy a large piece in hopes that I really could carve and I'd have extra wood to make more creations. Really. Really I did! Prez might have a different story to tell.. but I'm sticking with this one.

The Next Step
The next step will be transferring the template to the wood. I'll do that tomorrow. I've overcome enough emotional hurdles for one day. That will be my next "beginning".
 
See less See more
#5 ·
Debbie:

A great start. I also picked up a piece of basswood today. 4" X 6" x 36" I think I could make shoes for the whole team. But I'll be very happy with just one.
 
#6 ·
The courage to do the best that you can do is what it's all about and all that I ask. Remember, I carved my first bird with a grinding stone - it looked like it! But I thought it was good at the time and each carving afterwards taught me more. But not everybody wants to be a carver so I am happy enough to do it for those who want to and have the extra time to try something new.
 
#8 ·
I just have to pick up on what MsDebbieP said.
She said you would help us "SEE".
Years ago I taught some classes on drawing with the Right Brain. Perhaps I should have said, drawing on the right brain. I took most of my lessons from a book called just that, "Drawing on the Right Brain" by Dr. Betty Edwards. She gave me explicit permission to use the material.
The point of the lessons was NOT to teach one to draw, but to teach how to SEE the subject.
I recommend the book for anyone who wishes to do anything in a realistic fashion. The Right Brain State is how we see things properly and the Left Brain State is how we make symbols, like stick figures.

I have no connection to Dr. Edwards' book in any way except that her books have helped me to overcome a problem I have had in "seeing".

ddwwb
 
#11 ·
I am glad that you decided to jump in and participate. I am also incredibly uncomfortable with trying this project. It is going to be such a great experience and stretch for all of us involved to try this! So exciting! Thank you for this blog that you started and are sharing with us. Knowing someone else is as fearful as I am but is still going ahead with it somehow helps motivate me to try also. I may be humiliated in a BIG way when all is said and done, but I am going to do my best to keep up and keep going. Already you have made it a lot of fun!

You are gonna do great girl! (I'll be your cheerleader!)

:) Sheila
 
#12 ·
oh thanks Sheila!!!

I already think I took too much off on the toe area .. but it still looks like a shoe, so that's good :)

in the end it will be "my first attempt", regardless of what it looks like.

It's nice to have a peer in the seat beside me in Jordan's class ;)
 
#15 ·
:)
I could always cut the top of my running shoe off to match my carved one when it is finished…. and nobody would ever know that I messed up. Oh darn - that's why the teacher asked for a picture FIRST.. darn.
 
#16 ·
DON: (lurking in the back row, thought bubble over his head) - "Yeah, those girls are just playing up the teacher. I hope he doesn't come back here and peer over my shoulder. Maybe they'll keep his attention an' he'll forget about me!"
 
#19 ·
Hi Debbie,
If your having trouble reducing a pattern, if you have an architects scale ruler, it's real easy to reduce a drawing by 1/2. You can measure the original item on the one inch scale, & then transfer it to your drawing using using the 1/2" scale.
This is what an architects scale looks like.

 
#21 ·
my biggest challenge is my workspace. But, I'm going to set up my carving stuff in the cabin.. start the fire (oh that's interesting-if the shoe doesn't go well, how convenient is that!!!) hahaa

anyway, I will have a nice space where I can spread my stuff out AND it doesn't smell like skunk like our basement/workshop does at the moment.
 
#22 ·
Carving & Perfectionism

Oct. 3/10

The journey with the shoe carving is continuing - and my block of wood, at this point, still looks like a shoe! This is good.

But I was reminded of a very important component of carving, when a fellow student, TJ65, posted this update:
  • My head hurts real bad. :-(
    It's hot to touch too, I think it has been whirring away for way too long concentrating on getting the pattern of the sole drawn up. (Maybe I shuda went for an easier shoe!)
    I didn't realise that you really have to think and measure when you carve something true to form!!
    Now I know!!

Perfectionism-if you want to be a "realism" carver you have to be a perfectionist! This carving student is NOT a perfectionist. And so I am now using that willpower that I drew upon last week to avoid getting caught up in "fear" to, now, trying to be accurate in my measuring and carving. This does not come naturally.

Just as I was fighting to keep the thoughts of fear and anxiety out of my head last week, this week I struggle to keep the ideas and follow through of "precision" IN my head. Perhaps this is a good thing because it distracts me from the fear of (whatever it is) that will probably always be there.

As I think about this challenge with perfectionism and of the fear of "whatever", I am reminded of something that I've considered on my journey towards self-awareness: I am, in fact, a perfectionist and, because of my fears of not being able to live up to this, I choose to be more casual with my creations.

The idea has merit - it completes the idea of what I am afraid of and it is a good motivation behind my relaxed goals. Although it makes sense, I am not completely sold on the idea. I look at my life and, everywhere, I see "casual", hodgepodge, non-perfectionism. Can this fear possibly be contaminating all of my life? I think not.

Regardless of this self-awareness journey, I return to the "now" and I still have a shoe to carve - a realistic shoe - a project that needs perfectionism, precision, focus, and a personal mantra of "I do care about the exact details" - at least on this project.
 
#23 ·
I'm reminded, as I read MsDebbieP's comments, of my experience in the OLD days, when I was in high school.
Yes, they DID have high schools back then.
But the were in drafty old log cabins. That may explain my hatred of cold weather.
But I digress.
Debbie comments on the fear that this challenge presents. I am mystified.
For whatever perverse reason, challenge has rarely caused fear in me. Not to say this shoe-carve isn't hard. It is, and I'll be hard pressed to complete the course with a good grade. But I guess I enjoy a challenge.
I was rarely fearful of tests in school. I would hear other students talking about it and I always wondered, "so what?" I didn't think about it much. I just showed up and took the test. No big deal.
Now, I must hasten to add, that lackadaisical attitude didn't spring from confidence.
I was sometimes not well prepared, but for some reason it didn't bother me.
And so it is with The Shoe.
I'll enjoy it to the full because it doesn't frighten me.
Perhaps it's also because I have great confidence in the instructor. Even though i haven't started carving yet, I have this good feeling that it will be good for me and will expand my knowledge and skill.
And thanks to Jordan for being so willing to share.

ddwwb
 
#70 ·
A Pause ..

Oct. 4/10

Today I got the Dremel out and started uncovering the sole of my shoe. And then I had to pause…

A pause.. why, you ask? I had to take a picture at this point because from this point forward things could start going wrong. Right now, it looks likes the sole of a shoe. I feel like stopping right now and putting my shoe on display - "look what I did".

But, alas, that is not what this journey is about and i must continue to move forward. So I switched tips, grabbed a pencil and started marking the little lines in the sole's design. At this point I was starting to see the "non-perfection" appear and was glad that I had taken a photo of the "before". I haven't carved any of the lines yet but they are SO tiny….

And then I had a visitor. A Beautiful red damselfly landed on my chest and as I looked down it was just a few inches from my face. She spread her wings out and relaxed, wiping her face and staring up at me. She and I had a conversation for about 15 minutes.

I am a believer in learning from wildlife, learning life strategies from how they live, in other words: Animal Totems. Damselflies and dragonflies have many characteristics of survival, living, and beauty. Here is a quote from this site:

  • The power of Dragonfly lies in its ability to see around things by looking from different angles. Using its ability to transform colors and lights by reflecting and refracting them, Dragonfly shows us that life, like light, can bend, shift, and adapt in various ways, making life's appearance never be what it appears to be. Dragonfly's magic shows us to see through life's illusions and find our true vision. It calls us to transform within our lives and reminds us to feel deeply so we will have the compassion necessary to help ourselves and others.

I smile as I think of the wisdom of my visitor. Not only does it apply to my own life, as I move through the nagging voice of fear and perfectionism and attempt my first carving, but it also speaks to the carving itself. The wisdom reminds me to look at the shoe from different angles, to observe the light and shadows, seeing beyond first appearances, discovering how my shoe really looks.

When the damselfly said good-bye, I put down the wood and put down the pencil. I need a finer tipped pencil to be more precise. I need to put my glasses on and really look at those details on the shoe. I need to "see" and I need to "be".

And the pause continues.
 
#71 ·
Good for you, Debbie! You are one smart lady. It is much more difficult to stop and take a breath and think than just plowing ahead blindly. Most of all - thank you for posting your thoughts and reminding us all to do the same.

There have been times in the past when I have tried designing something that I saw in my head but it just wasn't translating to my drawings. Often this is when I would switch gears and go for a walk or sit on the beach and look at the waves for a bit and clear my head. More often than not, when returning to the drawing, I was able to see things in a different and many times clearer perspective. I believe this is what you are describing.

I am really enjoying getting to know you through these posts and this project.

Great post! Sheila
 
#84 ·
In Your Dreams!

Oct. 5/10

I guess I have a bug .. the bug.. the carving bug… Now, I'm dreaming about it!

No, I didn't work on the shoe. In my dream I picked up a piece of firewood and there staring at me was a wood spirit beckoning to be released from the wood. In my dream it took me some time to figure out what I was looking at and then I realized that I was to carve it.

:)

that's it.. a short blog this morning. Not very "deep" but I thought you might get a smile from it.
 
#85 ·
Debbie!

This has been a very interesting read.

I'm sorry I'm not participating in this challenge. I have a personal challenge that I shouldn't put off much longer. I have too many unfinished things that I should be doing. That's a huge challenge all by itself.

I'll be watching the progress of this challenge though.
 
#98 ·
Remembering...

Oct. 7/10

Today as I was carving out the toe area of my shoe (yes, it still looks like a shoe at this point!) I was contemplating what I could write about in my blog and thought that I wouldn't have anything to say. (I know you boys are surprised at that and are probably breathing a sigh of relief as well)-but …. :)

With my Dremel in hand I started thinking of when I first bought the tool. (Note: I was thinking BETWEEN carving sections… focus, focus, focus.) Anyway, I realized that when I first bought my Dremel I was excited about the possibilities.

After a couple of little projects the Dremel pretty much sat idle, basically because the wood I had was not conducive to beginner carvers. And because of this difficulty I needed help. I searched for (and requested) tutorials and videos on carving with a Dremel. But I never found anything that was of help to me. And so my little Dremel set has sat all alone, other than the few times that I have used it for the drill press abilities for scrollsaw work.

That all seems so long ago but since I've only been a LumberJock for 3+ years, in the big scheme of things, three years ago is basically yesterday! So, for three years I waited.. actually forgetting about my desire to try carving things with the Dremel. And then along comes Jordan who proposes offering a carving class. I threw my hat into the ring and have been "carving". We started this journey a week ago but it wasn't until today that I realized that I was fulfilling a wish! I've been so caught up in not letting fear stop me from doing this that I had forgotten about the joy that is part of the experience.

I think this wisdom was pointed out by a few people already-relax and have fun-but my mind was elsewhere.

And today - it's a whole new ballgame!
I'm carving.
With my Dremel.
And having fun.
And it isn't that difficult or frustrating.
Yet.
 
#107 ·
The Real Challenge Begins...

Oct. 7/10

Having overcome the battle with "fear at starting something new" I have now moved onto a new personal challenge.

This afternoon my mind decided that it didn't want to "see" in 3-d contoured vision and translate that image onto a smaller less contoured shape.

Here is where I really have to battle with the perfectionism or "good enough" challenge. I've been doing a lot of deep breathing this afternoon, as a strategy to stop myself from just carving out a shoe shape - any shoe shape, anything that would resemble or could resemble, or might remotely resemble a shoe.

My mind keeps saying, "do you really care about the details of the shoe? Just carve a shoe… get on with it.. move on". On another day I might have given in. But not today. Today, I stepped back and put down the Dremel. Today I reminded myself that I do have the will power to take it slowly, to look and see and do my best to copy the design. On my "next" shoe, I can make it however I want - but this shoe is the "shoe challenge" shoe. This shoe is going to look like my running shoe - to the best of my ability.
I'm sure I am going to have a few "back up plans" from here on in, covering up an oops or two or three or four. But I will do my best to prevent them (the oops'). I will take my time. I will be patient.

I can do this.

I think I can.

I hope I can.

Maybe.

Perhaps.

I'm holding my breath.
 
#108 ·
You hang in there, Debbie! I also started my shoe today in earnest. So far, it is OK but I didn't really look at the amount of detail that was in the sole alone when I chose it. I was quite a bit overwhelmed while measuring it out, but then as I started carving, it was all doing a bit better. I have some issues with it too, and stopped to ask a question before ruining it, so I will see where it goes from here. I tend to err on the side of being conservative, which is good in this case because it is easier to take more off than put it back on. I think that when you are overwhelmed, you are doing the right thing to take a break and regroup. I am glad you came back though.

I think the fact that you are conscious of everything will be in your favor. Just don't let it get the best of you and take the fun out of it. I think there are many of us struggling along with you and even if we mess up, there are many things we will learn by doing this.

I'm cheering for you!!! :D

Sheila
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top