Thread: Do you call yourself a carver or a sculptor?

Originally Posted by Bleedin Thumb

As someone once said...lets leave the label for the can of soup!

Well said, Bleedin Thumb- and then, somebody made art even of them ! ( tomato soup, wasn't it?)

Acxtually you've left another possible description out, whittler.

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

Interesting comment. So, when do you consider yourself a sculptor and not a carver, and viceversa?

You really know how to put someone on the spot!! How's this...

It depends on whether I am drinking fine wine or ale when I am making chips and sawdust ????

Maybe this works a little better for the non-tippers.. Think of carving as the process and sculpture as the project ?? semantics, go figure..
So is a finished lathe turning a carving (tools are used) or a piece of sculpture (artistic expression) Maybe we need a new word to cover all of it?
Sculving?
carpture?
lavingture?
scullaving?
makewoodstuff?

Thanks all for your imput, I think there is a consensus emerging. Let's see if you would be happy to describe yourselves as such (with apologies to the accomplished like Artesano):

I am an amateur woodworker with some skills in carving, turning and using other woodworking tools, who would like to be able to, and sometimes does, produce objects of beauty like sculptures or decorated functional objects.

I can not honestly call myself a carver (whittler, turner, designer, cabinetmaker etc.) because I have not attained the level of skill that defines these crafts.

In the case of carving, the defining level of skill is the ability to produce a finished object "off the tool" without the need for abrasives.

I am not a designer either because I have not produced a tomato soup can label worthy of inclusion in the Museum of Modern Arts.

Just call me "sir".

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

I can not honestly call myself a carver (whittler, turner, designer, cabinetmaker etc.) because I have not attained the level of skill that defines these crafts.

same for me, im a artist

Originally Posted by SPIRIT

same for me, im a artist

Sorry, sir, artist it is!

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

Sorry, sir, artist it is!

don't have to be sorry franky as for sir l work for a livin

BT is right,
check out the oxford dictionary
carving referes specificly to cutting, dosent nominate what tools.
sculpting refers to forming any material.
wood, stone, clay, play-doh ice, soap bubbles.
these are both verbs.
What you call yourself I suppose depends on how you see yourself.
Some people who call themselves sculptors, others would call pretentious twits.
Others who call themselves whittlers, we might call artists.
many superficeally crude carvings can be beautifull.
I collect Netsuke and have to say that some meticulously carved stuff comming out of china, dosent have nearly the same beauty as some of the more clumsy work done by japanese carvers 100 years ago.

Astrid

.....and what a surprise it was for me, when I decided to take a look at the French woodcarving sites!(BTW-lots of them, and some very nice work!)-I don't speak French, so I had to look for the word in the dictionary: sculpteur sur bois- "bois" stands for wood,so you get the picture- no difference between a sculptor( who works in wood) and a woodcarver for our French friends

Yep, this is it. Sculpture is the process, wood is the medium, carving is one technique, as Astrid found out. It is not really true that there is "no difference between a sculptor( who works in wood) and a woodcarver for our French friends", however. A (wood)carver would be called an "ornementiste" in French, the stress being on carving being an ornamental technique. English seems to have followed a more direct path from Italian: carver is "intagliatore" from tagliare = to cut.

It is true that there is a social value attached to these words: sculpture suggests creativity, carving suggests manual skill.

As regards people calling other people pretentious twits, that has more to do with human nature than one's vocation...

If you saw some of the stuff my cousin, who calls himself a sculptor, turns(no pun) out. you would understand the pretentios twit comment.
radiata pine, roughly hewn into ugly, big mouthed big breasted women type stuff.
he cant even sell it at the pub.
Astrid
ick its totally tacky

Originally Posted by Frank&Earnest

. It is not really true that there is "no difference between a sculptor( who works in wood) and a woodcarver for our French friends", however. A (wood)carver would be called an "ornementiste" in French, the stress being on carving being an ornamental technique. ...........It is true that there is a social value attached to these words: sculpture suggests creativity, carving suggests manual skill.

Wow!-when somebody here said you speak 45 languages,I guessed it was a joke!...as I said, I don't speak French-but looking for "sculpture sur bois" in Google, I found lots and lots of good old carving-and no disappointment for me, tha'ts what I was looking for!
Now , the "creativity vs. manual skill"...that's a different story: how do you measure the creativityand ?I hope you don't say " by the price"-millions have been paid for real sh.t(well... litterally), so i much prefer the carving; and , BTW, there is a nevere-ending creativity in the woodcarving..... (and,YES!, that was a good bait )

Originally Posted by Artesano

(and,YES!, that was a good bait )

Thanks, it makes it all worthwhile! As regards paying $$$ for the real thing, I guess you refer to Piero Manzoni's "Merda d'artista". But that is exactly the point, isn't it? The first time it is creative, after that it's worthless. As for measuring it... no idea, I was just talking about the values people associate to certain words.

Originally Posted by astrid

If you saw some of the stuff my cousin, who calls himself a sculptor, turns(no pun) out. you would understand the pretentios twit comment.
radiata pine, roughly hewn into ugly, big mouthed big breasted women type stuff.
he cant even sell it at the pub.
Astrid
ick its totally tacky

Of course he can't sell it at the pub. No connoisseurs appreciative of fine arts there!