art is born of a free soul and mind , this you cannot manufacture

      recently a friend commissioned me to do a sculpture . i really don't do commissions for anyone as i like to do what i want. this is a hobby , and not a job. my body not being what it used to be has a hard time meeting other peoples expectations of me , and sometimes it has a hard time just meeting mine.only to let down the both of us. 

      also when some one tells you what they want and what color it has to be , as well as what size , and the wood it is to carved from , they tend to expect what they are supposed to get. this can be tough at times with the inner me. as it want to tell them where to go. not wise by any standard but something most artists grapple with. he even went so far as to tell me how to hold the chainsaw and what cuts to make. usually i have a deal for people like this . they can rent my chainsaws and equipment and i might throw in some safety chaps i never use but should, and this neat little face shield i hardly ever use also, to carve his own figurine just like he wants it. it is much cheaper this way as he can find his own piece of wood and wrestle it into a proper carving position as they are usually quite large at this point . sometimes requiring a tractor to place them in position. anyhow with all the equipment i have he could have easily got exactly what he wanted, minus my help. 

    hey but guess what , he hasn't an ounce of talent and doesn't know the first thing about how to carve. so he has me do it . a trade was the carrot he needed to sway me to accept his offer. more work just what i needed. a log cabin to rebuild. the cabin will fit in well with my greenhouse and over all plan here at the farm and i look forward to the labor of rebuilding it and salvaging the old wood. 

    ahhh , but the problems are not over as i have a pair of figurines he conveniently provided to me to use as models for the final sculpture. not only is he telling me how to sculpt , now he wants me to do the greatest no -no of the art world and copy someone else s work. oh joy. i am thrilled.

     inspired my the mona lisa one time i did a pencil sketch i still have all wrinkled and sad looking in appearance but is very reminiscent of the mona lisa. my only attempt at copying a real artist. so  a couple of cheap frog art figurines from wal mart . shouldn't be such a big deal. well i love a challenge and so i took it on.

    well as usual , and with hesitancy i reminded him as i have did others that each artist has their own special take on what he perceives, and that i would try my best to achieve the poses and the overall appearance of the original piece , but in the end i would have to consider what mother nature saw fit to leave me in the wood. i cut what i thought were 2 large enough pieces to do both frog figurines and started cutting. the progress shown is what i have completed as of yesterday. today being a nice day and the next 4 not so nice , i have decided to work on this some more today. but still. mother nature will not allow the feet to dangle in these large pieces of wood forcing me to find an alternative pose that will accommodate my friends wishes. 

      with reluctance i have approached this project but still yearn to be free to do what i want. guess it may have to do with resisting authority i guess, a rebel with cause and no where to go. but left to my own demise and resisting the temptation to strike it rich in the cute bear cutting category , i have produced some unique carvings of note and of which i will display above. soon i will take no orders but instead produce as i may.