The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve tried to find pleasures outside of my central interests. This has largely come in the way of yard work and maintenance, which finds me looking at small problems around the house and trying to fix them. Even if I wouldn’t call myself an expert on anything, there is still that drive to find a new way to see the world and appreciate what makes the larger infrastructure operate.
That is why the greatest gift I got for Christmas in 2024 was a hobby kit. Consider this a shill for the company, This Month’s Craft, which has really delivered on things outside my comfort zone. Even as I ask how long they can ship out hobbies before we repeat, they have delivered something that, at worst, piques my interest and forces me to ask what I will do to make the most of things.
Ironically, everything started off on a somewhat horrible note. Month 1 (January) was wood caving for a bird. As the joke in The Simpsons would suggest, “That’s a fine looking barbecue pit… WHY DOESN’T MINE LOOK LIKE THAT?” To be fair, I failed to follow instructions and found a lot of difficulty with the knife sliding smoothly along the wood to the point I acquired several new cuts, including a prominent one on the joint where my left-hand pointer finger is. It’s not much of a bird, but I did come away loving everything else about it, such as sanding and coating it. The second month was the biggest nadir (to date) where I was forced to spend nearly 20 hours assembling miniatures made of mostly paper and flimsy wood with glue that just wouldn’t hold. As of this publication, it’s also the most awkward because it’s the hardest I’ve worked, but also takes up the most space for something I don’t have a lot of pride in.
When that is your starting point, it’s easy to think that nothing good will come of things. You tend to feel inferior as you struggle to make a crumbling mess hold any shape. In fairness, everything since has been a sliding scale of success, though some (such as birdhouse assemblage) are fascinating in concept but underwhelming in time consumption. Others like creating habanero sauce had a longer shelf life, but nothing that felt sustainable outside of the “buy more supplies” variety.
Then we landed on woodburning, and I think I found a new favorite. Given how much the tip of my burning pen has bent, I do worry that I have misused it, especially with an impatience that immediately caused me to set it at 500° C. There’s the smell of burning wood as the slow hand causes a massive dimple-colored hole in your wood. While I have since played with cooler temps, it’s still clear that this is a patient person’s game. There is a need to set aside a few hours to get the work done because a mind not focused will ultimately get burned.
Thankfully, I have not yet received a careless mark from woodburning. However, I have found myself eager to revisit it the most of every hobby that has been sent my way. This can be in part because it’s the closest I can come to an artistic expression without having to recognize my limits as a creator. Despite my skills with a keyboard, I am dismayed by whatever I create with a paintbrush. I watch Bob Ross and fantasize about mastering fan brushes. I watch The Canvas videos on YouTube and dream of finding my lane. Those details have yet to emerge, and it’s something I am very self-conscious about. I keep wanting to take up drawing as a full-time or monthly hobby, but without clear goals, it’s mostly stagnant portraits lacking inspiration.
With woodburning, there is a sense of escalation that is more familiar to the writing process. I am used to drafting a story from vague ideas to a complete picture. There is a need to envision the road map and then start walking until something becomes clear. Because This Month’s Craft also provided stencils and wood samples to guide me, I have been slowly working from a conventional pallet to more and more exciting portraits.
Part of me still wonders if woodburning is the most visually stimulating product when it’s done. As someone who hasn’t mastered any shading technique, there is often a sense of just tracing someone else’s art and attempting to design something around the conventional. This causes me to think of Chasing Amy and how Jason Lee lost his mind when someone negated the art of tracing simply because it wasn’t as creatively satisfying as Ben Affleck’s storytelling element. What am I doing that’s ultimately great or original with woodburning? Some could say not a lot. At most the paint gives it “personality,” but does the definition do enough to make the burning seem substantial to any viewing audience?
These are all things that seem ridiculous when you consider that I’ve only been doing woodburning for less than a month. Nobody starts a genius. Of the four works I’ve created, each has shown minor improvements. There’s not a lot to suggest I am making a Mona Lisa. At most, I have formed aspirations of branching out and trying to make something even more provocative. Maybe I’ll get good enough to not cover up mistakes with paint. There is growing inspiration that has found me even attempting to make a portrait of Tangela. To me, there was something in tracing those vine lines that was difficult but still rewarding. As much as it loses the provocative touch, it still is a beautiful little work that I am proud to hang on my wall if for no other reason than I made it from a blank canvas into my own creation.
Don’t expect this to become a career. A lot of what I’ve explored wouldn’t sustain that type of passion for very long. What surprises me is the catharsis that woodburning gives me and forces my mind to slow down and focus on the process. Even having to wait for the pen to heat up gives me a last-minute chance to consider what I’m looking at. There’s not a lot that I change by that point, but having breathing room is necessary, if just because I realize that I’m getting older and my hands aren’t as limber as they used to be. After tracing, I often need to shake the hand out and keep myself from speeding through the rest.
Will this be a hobby that lasts? I have a good outlook that it’ll be something I revisit if not every month, then with a frequency that at least produces a few works annually. Without giving away too much, there are ideas that I am working on for Christmas that will hopefully build to something more intriguing as I form more of a skill that I feel comfortable sharing with others. Nothing too complicated, but ideally something more human and authentic.
It does make me consider the debate on what is and isn’t art. Does the tracer really have a skill, or is there passion in someone without guardrails? I personally believe that everyone starts with imitation, and I am still at that step. There is a need to find my voice in the larger system. It’ll take a while. Even then, is it fine if I’m just making art for myself? Ultimately, it’s about the emotion it produces, and if a single person is satisfied, then it is art. The more original the better. For me, it’s about the strokes and flaws that make a work carry self-awareness. This is something I created, and it needs to say that in some implicit way. Even my Tangela says something about me. What exactly, I don’t know. Maybe it’s that the blue paint doesn’t quite create the desired layered effect. Still, it’s something to work towards.
For now, I look forward to whatever This Month’s Craft has in store for July. They may not all be home runs, but if the idea is to get my brain to run, then it’s at least doing that. I’m grateful for the surprises if just to remind me how much better life is when you take risks on things that don’t matter. For all I know, July’s hobby will not be all that good and I’ll just complain about it for the next few months. It could end up being even better than woodburning. I don’t know and frankly, I prefer it that way. It gives me a lot to mull over and realize how much there is to still learn about the world and myself.
Comments
Post a Comment