Ancient Tulip Design From Arbalet

[Storm]

storm

   you are getting your own kinda trademark now. your begging to be recognized with the way you tool patterns. grat work amigo keep it up. your one of those who i know who strive to have his own trademark tooling style and those are the ones who succeed at the end farther and higher.

   i always notice that when you tool something its always recognizable that its your work. even if its a borrowed pattern. your practice has made you even better thus making you create that second nature identity when you tool stuff. i begin to realize that we should not stick to the style of other but we should practice and practice even harder to gain our own identity and style in carving things. its like painting youi have subjects and different artists can interpret that subject in many ways.

  HAPP NEW YEAR  buddy! great work from and artist!!!!

ritch

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Thanx much Ritch! You are coming to the same thing I believe in. If you have three pianists and they all have the same sheet music from Mozart or Bach, it is almost assured that each will play the music in a different manner. One may start with a basic recipe but if you have four top chefs they will put their own spin on how they put it all together. In the case of this art that Arbalet supplied we start with only an old photograph of some even older stone carving and then from that a pattern is created and then a carving and dying. As much as I love Al Stohlman as an artist and a teacher(My only teacher, after a fashion) I know that I must try and go farther if I can. I don't want to parrot something and do so for all of my life. There are understandibly certain approaches to tooling certain things. I love to see a good Sheridan style but people have pushed the "Sheridan Tools" and as much as I would like to buy them I am not really able to as their price is usually prohibitive.

It takes practice and sometimes you're not successful but you keep going. My habit of late is to keep large index cards in my car and a clipboard(my drawing board) If I am waiting for to pick up my lady from work or sitting while she shops I draw new flowers and patterns. The other night I was waiting outside the Fish and Chips shop and longer than usual and I started drawing. There was a guy in the car next to me, I hardly noticed. I sketched lightly in pencil and then came back over with a fine tip rollerball. When I was about to leave the guy shouted out. " Not being nosey or anything but I couldn't help but watch what you were doing. Man that looks really nice and you did it so quickly!" An unsolicited compliment is so rare these days and from a stranger at that.

We need to all strive to be better. Not to be in competition with each other but ourselves. To be better than we were the day before. You look at the work of Bob Parks a true cowboy artist with a striving toward the original but also BOBACAT! I am in awe of his work also and even more so as he comes from China. There is also a new member dlmartemcouro (Danilo Melo) from Sao Paulo State in Brazil who just placed his latest Executive Bag on the site for display. He used an old photo of a Chester Hape Sheridan style saddle and adapted it to his briefcase. When you consider where Danilo is and the fact that he has only been leather carving and saddle making for eight(8) years.....well I am in awe. I am not jealous. I love someone who can best me for from them I gain the drive to strive and be better at whatever I am doing. For if we are to grow we must try and help other. If you help another person get to the top of the mountain then you cannot help but get there yourself.

Thanx to all my teachers from around the world.

Storm

[MBOGO]

Well put storm.

This week I saw IT MIGHT GET LOUD, and Jack White was commenting that he likes things to be a challenge, and if they arn't, make it one. Keep pushing. The people who are at the top of their game aren't there because they want to be on top, they want to push and play and arn't afraid to make a thousand mistakes, and grow as a result. I highly reccomend this film to anyone who loves music, Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge, three generations of top Guitarists interacting.

[TomSwede]

That was really cool Storm!!! Love the richness you got in the colors. Seem like you're finding your way around with the eco-flo stuff.

Tooling looks just great, the mtif is great for tooling!!

Tom

[Storm]

That was really cool Storm!!! Love the richness you got in the colors. Seem like you're finding your way around with the eco-flo stuff.

Tooling looks just great, the mtif is great for tooling!!

Tom

Thanx Tom! I am getting a little better with the ecoflo but it is still not right. Changes with each type or brand of leather not to mention having it change on the two pieces from the same hide. Still prefer neetsfoot oild and the seal with Satin Shene. However some people will want their colors. HA!

Storm