Carver vs Creator

[Seamus O'Mahoney <omahoney@xxxxxxxxx>]

More thoughts and clarifications;

I agree with parts of Walter's synopsis of enlarging
w/calipers; it can be very difficult. On the other hand,
like anything ye learns, once you know how to do
something, it is not difficult any more. Of course when
ye are talking about sculpture, almost every piece one
does is new and different, so it is ones own confidence
in solving and executing past projects that produces
experience. This in turn makes one a master carver. A
master is not one who has done everything before, but
one who has done enough so as to be confident to be able
to execute anything. I lived and worked in Italy for a
number of years in the mid seventies so the comments I
will make are based on personal experience.

Yes, some Italians do work for short wages, but I don't
believe their situation is the fault of the artists who
are contracting the work. The Italians, especially in
Northern Italy operate in a feudal system. The
government has no real power (until recently?). As in
most places, some people are de facto satisfied to stay
where they are (no matter how much they complain) and
some will seek something better. Here in Barre, VT there
are many, many Italians who left Italy to do better. I
can assure you that the Italians here do not work for
$15. per day; it is closer to $15 per quarter hour. And
anyways, the firms that employ these Italian carvers do
not work cheap. So the disparity is an issue between the
Italian carvers and the Italian employers.

Also, to clarify Walter, Rodin was not a stone carver,
he was trained as a stone CUTTER. Stonecutters do hold
the point (which is probably what you saw him holding)
much different than carvers do. Cutters have to hold the
same tool most of the day and strike it many times.
Therefore the grip you probably saw was of the split
second rest between blows of the hammer.

Lastly, although I have enjoyed the comments from
responses to this discussion, I feel that a master
carver/sculptor/artist combines both the craftman and
creator. Perhaps that why the most successful stone
artists such as Hart, Noguchi, Moore, Rodin, and
Michaelangelo knew both realms.

 Slan,
Seamus O'Mahoney