I am a longtime carving hobbyist and have been carving everything from wood and stone to pumpkins and foam since I was allowed to carry a pocket knife as a kid.
The process of turning a solid piece of material to a beautifully sculpted piece of art is a highly enjoyable and relaxing hobby that allows me to express my creative side.
You can easily lose of time when you get into the flow of a project. Time becomes unimportant as your focus shrinks to only the small figure forming before your eyes.
Back in Cub Scouts, I started my whittling career by carving sticks into basic shapes or creating a pointed end, like many of my peers did at the time. Sometimes, though, I would find myself stripping the bark off and whittling the sticks down into nothing as I got into the rhythm of the task
After learning to sharpen my knife properly, I found that whittling small details into wood was much easier than I originally thought, and my appreciation for whittling grew!
Of course, I wasn’t satisfied with just shaping wood. I tried many other mediums like foam, but when I discovered soapstone and alabaster a whole new world was opened up for me!
The ability to turn a rough piece of rock into a beautifully smooth sculpture is fascinating, especially because you never know what interior colors and patterns are going to be revealed as you carve away at the stone!