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I figured that I'd post this now because by Saturday morning I don't think that too many of us are going to be in the mood to do much posting never mind carving. Our hearts and minds will be on our brothers and sisters in Texas.
As you can see this is one of Gene's 4" bears with a karate "gi" on. I received a card in the mail the other day from a former student who although was thanking me for all my help that I provided over the years, was also letting me know that he was quitting karate. This really saddened me because he's only 12-years old and he not long ago received his Junior Black Belt. His martial arts career has just begun and now he's quitting before giving it a chance to get started. So many times we see this with our Junior Black Belts. They get burned out and aren't mature enough or old enough to train with adults so they just get bored and give up. They don't realize that any martial art takes "a life time and a day" to learn and that it can reap benefits their entire life, from personal development such as increased self confidence and self esteem, to credits on college and job applications, to business and friendship contacts, and much, much more....
Anyway, I sat down and knocked this little guy out and wrote the young lad a nice letter and dropped them in the mail today with the hope that if it doesn't change his mind now, perhaps it will plant a seed for later on. I'd hate to see him lose everything that he worked so hard for over seven years to get.
It's southern basswood finished with acrylics and diluted waterbased matte polyurethane. The insignia is our school patch which I printed out on the computer, coated with Fixtatif and then glued onto the bear with the new Gorilla wood glue. No way was I going to be able to paint on something that small!!! Besides, I wanted to leave the young lad with a reminder!
As you can see this is one of Gene's 4" bears with a karate "gi" on. I received a card in the mail the other day from a former student who although was thanking me for all my help that I provided over the years, was also letting me know that he was quitting karate. This really saddened me because he's only 12-years old and he not long ago received his Junior Black Belt. His martial arts career has just begun and now he's quitting before giving it a chance to get started. So many times we see this with our Junior Black Belts. They get burned out and aren't mature enough or old enough to train with adults so they just get bored and give up. They don't realize that any martial art takes "a life time and a day" to learn and that it can reap benefits their entire life, from personal development such as increased self confidence and self esteem, to credits on college and job applications, to business and friendship contacts, and much, much more....
Anyway, I sat down and knocked this little guy out and wrote the young lad a nice letter and dropped them in the mail today with the hope that if it doesn't change his mind now, perhaps it will plant a seed for later on. I'd hate to see him lose everything that he worked so hard for over seven years to get.
It's southern basswood finished with acrylics and diluted waterbased matte polyurethane. The insignia is our school patch which I printed out on the computer, coated with Fixtatif and then glued onto the bear with the new Gorilla wood glue. No way was I going to be able to paint on something that small!!! Besides, I wanted to leave the young lad with a reminder!
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