Steps...

​What is this? Yes, it's a block of wood... it's also a picture of possibilities, this small block of wood could become numerous things. But how do you decide? Where you do you start? What if it doesn't turn out like it's meant to? We are often faced with daunting challenges, but we have to take a deep breath and take a first step.

I started teaching myself woodcarving earlier this year, having zero experience and no idea where to start. So I took a first step (which of course was the internet) I picked up some information on the ideal tools to start with and found out that a tool shop not too far away from us had a woodcarving club. Being as impatient as I am, I also ordered tools and wood blanks and just had a go, using the trial and error method and learning how not to get many tiny cuts on my fingers.
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Four months later, I decided to enter a carving competition. I had those moments of doubt flitting around my head, “what on earth am I going to carve?”, “what if my work isn’t good enough?”, “I’ve only been doing this a few months”, “I’ll never win, maybe I won’t bother”, I acknowledged those doubts, and then ploughed on anyway; if I didn't try, I definitely didn't have a chance. In the end I decided on a seahorse, I painted one a little while ago and find them fascinating creatures, I sketched out my design and then made the first cut into the wood. Throughout the doubts, I just kept making the cuts in the wood, and all those little cuts turned into something I was really rather pleased with, so I took that deep breath and uploaded my pictures to the website.

I'd love to say I won… I didn't win, but a large part of entering for me was to challenge myself and try and create something far more intricate than I’d done previously, and the fact it was for a competition motivated me to push out of my carving comfort zone before I started getting stuck in it.
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I realise I approach most things this way, things can seem big or overwhelming and it's difficult to see how you can get to the end point, but I just have to take the first step, however small it is; each small step gets you closer to where you want to be. Sometimes those steps may take an unexpected direction (as an artist I can call these a design change) and change the planned outcome, this could result in a lesson learnt, or even something better than what you originally envisioned!

Keep taking those steps.