Moving on, it's no longer suddenly Fall. It's the dead of winter. I'm already to the point where I'm pining for summer. Never satisfied? Sure.
And along the vein of being incorrectly seasonal, I'm going to talk about how, in October, I accomplished the goal of carving a pumpkin (goal #21). I wanted this to be a goal because just last year I thought I discovered something about well-carved pumpkins- that it was all about the tools. The building in which the company that I used to work for resided had a contest that year for pumpkin carving. Someone brought in a set of tools for the expressed purpose of carving a pumpkin. And I thought I would cry when I cleaned that sucker out in about 45 seconds with the specific scraping tool. Having remembered all the times I carved pumpkins as a kid and got so frustrated when I couldn't get all the strings out with the spoon. That stuff in there sicks me out, but even more sick is when you can't get it all out and it dries and hangs inside your beautiful Jack-o-lantern (beautiful in my eyes only to be clear). Anyway, it was a revelation. Then I used that tiny saw and suddenly I could understand how people could have cuts that were smaller than the width of the enormous cleaver that I had been using. It was a group effort, but with a little planning and some sweet tools we created a witch on a broomstick flying across a full moon. We didn't win, but I thought we had nailed it.
So I was excited to try again with the new tools and see what I could do on my own, without the others holding me back. You know those times when you think other people are holding you back and then you find out you were the weak link? Me too. Turns out that, while I was a studio art major, I have to learn the lesson over and over that I can't create art. I can find art, and I can capture it with a camera, but in terms of seeing something in my head and somehow translating it to something someone else can look at- no can do. I mean my pumpkin wasn't disgusting, but it also wasn't at all creative and not perfectly executed either. But I had a good time, and I'm determined to keep working on it. Once per year. For at least the next year or two. So here I come world!
So I was excited to try again with the new tools and see what I could do on my own, without the others holding me back. You know those times when you think other people are holding you back and then you find out you were the weak link? Me too. Turns out that, while I was a studio art major, I have to learn the lesson over and over that I can't create art. I can find art, and I can capture it with a camera, but in terms of seeing something in my head and somehow translating it to something someone else can look at- no can do. I mean my pumpkin wasn't disgusting, but it also wasn't at all creative and not perfectly executed either. But I had a good time, and I'm determined to keep working on it. Once per year. For at least the next year or two. So here I come world!
Here is the level of precision I imagined my potential could take me...
And here is what it did look like...
Turns out it's not ALL about the tools. I probably could have done that with an enormous knife, but whatevs. Goal accomplished!
And here is what it did look like...
Turns out it's not ALL about the tools. I probably could have done that with an enormous knife, but whatevs. Goal accomplished!
HAHA!!! I tried to make an Ice-T pumpkin. I gave up about 5 minutes into it. That's all.
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