ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that there is a certain range of work, with the emphasis either on technique or on creativeness, on the impersonal or the expressive approach, which is possible in all the materials we shall consider. It is so even with that which in the past has been most limiting, most confined by a strict technique—wood. The whittling of sticks and the making of catapults and bows—all of which gives some practice in judging the strength, weight and pliability of various woods—cutting and shaping for a definite purpose can be attempted. The tool marks themselves and the use of surfaces to show up the grain of the wood are the most appropriate ‘decoration’ and illustrate how the most natural form of decoration is not added but arises from the working of the material itself. The wood is always better to be seasoned, but for carving really well seasoned wood must be used.
