Yes, another note, another day, another perspective,
sometime near completion.
An explanation regarding “Cedar and Granite Piece“ and its chronology might be useful to clarify aspects of the its development.
During exploration of the intuitive process, including the carving of what was then referred to as “Cedar and Granite,” I incorporated journaling for personal reference and personal development. I had no idea that various aspects of doing the piece would turn out to be as significant as they have turned out to be. I offer a few insights.
Early in the carving I felt I wanted to be able to be inside the piece, this solid root base and short portion of the trunk about four meters in length and about one and one half meters wide at the spread of the roots. There appeared to be sufficient internal volume within the piece. There was enough space to be inside. Where would be the entry point? What would the entry look like? How would the entry be shaped?
Through the intuitive sculpting exploration of the previous pieces I was able to identify visual cues and visual clues. I would see a fin, an arm, a rear leg, the bow of a canoe, etc. “Cedar and Granite” to this point has remained uncooperatively silent regarding the where and the what of the opening. The sanding and the smoothing of the piece gave me plenty to work on, yet for at least four months I would begin the day pondering the possible whereabouts of the elusive opening. I was more than curious, not strongly anxious yet keen to get the matter of the opening resolved. Why wasn’t it happening? That certainly had me curious. I came up with various ideas for the opening. I wrote some of those ideas, thinking with each note, “Is this it?” I would contemplate each idea. I would attempt to discern whether the idea was “clever brain” attempting to satisfy or pacify me or was it an idea, a voice of the intuitive? There was never any actual intuitive voice by the way, yet I describe here only my particular process. Anything is possible. I would quietly ponder the idea of the moment. Over time I would identify that an idea wasn’t sitting well. Although I never did feel like I knew for sure one way or the other, I was able at times discern one idea feeling less comfortable than another.
After numerous sessions I decided that I could feel one thing for sure: the current method of processing wasn’t working.
A reminder here: I am speaking about attempting to identify the whereabouts of the opening into which I would eventually be able to enter and to be inside.
What to do? I concluded that in this era of instant messaging, if I was going to get a message from the universe, or wherever it was coming from, I should have received the message by now. I might do well to check “trash” or “junk mail.” That is, if I knew where those might reside in my mind, or thereabouts. I further concluded, or at least came up with as a theory, that maybe I was afraid, that there was fear that I would do the wrong thing. In the deep interior of my mind I wanted to know for sure that I was making the appropriate decision. I was waiting for proof and that proof did not seem to be coming.
This not knowing for certain provided the impetus for “a crucial moment.” I am not at all sure what put me over the edge enough to decide to leap. That “leap” describes what happened here. I suspect that I understood that this was a serious decision, if anything can really be serious about carving a piece of driftwood. I decided that I would plunge my saw into the wood the next day. I appeared to be saying, “This is a big decision. I will see if I feel the same way tomorrow about this decision to plunge the whirring sharp teeth of chainsaw into the piece.” As I look back I am not sure I was even aware of where I was going to plunge in the saw blade. The following morning I did plunge it in and wood chips flew.
I stopped the saw. I must have questioned whether I had a reckless moment. Then, “What was I doing? I wasn’t thinking!” At that point I heard what I was thinking or saying and began to relax with the realization that I was not predominantly thinking and that, in this intuitive exploration, the “mental not thinking” state was for the most part a good thing. The process was not to be about the dominance of thinking.
PHEW! I thought maybe I’d really lost it for a moment, and I guess I had, yet surprisingly, that was OK. I somehow recognized that what I had done was indeed to leap, and I took that leap.
Another day, brief expression
Carving,
Seeing the whole in the parts.
Seeing the hole in the piece.
(sounds like my notes from a few days ago)
Balance
Movement
Stability
Change