How Much Disabling Injury Can a Sculptor Take

[Merlion]

This story below prompts me to ask this question above. Due to accidents or medical poblems, sculptors can get disabled temporarily or permanently.

Some injuries or dsabilities may just cause inconvenience or need minor adjustments. Some may need need major adjustments or leaning new skills. Some may stop them working.

For sculptors, the hands and the eyes are important.

I think one major factor is mental strength, or determination, especially if the disabling effect is permanent.

Sculptor as brave as a lion (http://www.blackburncitizen.co.uk/news/newsheadlines/display.var.1299389.0.sculptor_as_brave_as_a_lion. php)

THE sculptor who repaired Darwen's Boer War memorial has told how he carried out the project despite having a seriously injured arm.

Wildlife artist Jack Crewdson, 68, of Weasel Lane, Tockholes, spent three months renewing, repairing and restoring the stone lion, despite pain and numbness in his left hand.

Mr Crewdson, a member of Blackburn Artists' Society, said his arm was injured by a dog.

He said: "It's my left hand but it's surprising how much you do need your left hand for dexterity for doing that sort of work.

"It broke my wrist. My arm was punctured in 28 places. It tore my tricep out and a chunk out of my back."....

[Landseer]

Good find Merlion, you got me looking for a better photo of the lion but instead I got sidetracked to other UK war memorial lions

31 foot long cast iron 1886
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbury_lion

Another interesting animals in war sculpture with two "sides" for a theme separated by a portland stone shape

http://mylondonyourlondon.com/?p=38

[Merlion]

I understand many artists do not appreciate, do not feel the problem of disabilities, until one day something unfortunate strikes.

I notice my vision disability after I started on sculpture. It is double vision and slowly worsen. Now I effectively see with one eye. This means I do not have binocular vision. I see things, see the world as 2D images.

Relating to vision, Chihuly the famous glass sculptor lost one eye from an accident. This did not stop him being very active on his creative glass sculpture work.

[evaldart]

Mark Disuvero was injured in an accident in 1960, permanently disabling him, yet his largest and most ambitious work continues to this day. He learned how to operate a crane and accomplished his best stuff with only one assistant. I remember seeing him often at art openings making his way through the crowd with canes, popular, proud and accessible. One of my heroes.
I do not think that the approach should be to preserve your body...quite the opposite, it should be used up, drained of its potential, expended in the intensity of performing your labors and executing your challenges, it is your best tool. When you retire it you can stand next to the poets with their life in a leather satchell, the painters with their life flat up against a wall or under the bed, and you...spread out all over the damn place, cracking shins, confounding lawnmowers, bending fenders and generally cluttering airspace, a undeniable reminder to all that you did something exceptional.

[Tlouis]

You're a hell of a good writer, Evaldart. Intelligent, insightful and a damn good read.

Lou

[evaldart]

Thanks Lou, its hard to talk out this subject of art without dispelling our personal philosophies (colored by our experiences).
I like your style as well. Reminds me of the GOOD teachers I had many, many years ago - when they liked it their elation was enthusiastically sincere and thus very rewarding, when they didn't there were no punches pulled. As it should be.

Matt J

[tobias]

evaldart I totaly agree. I also think that a sculptor can and will over come what he or she needs to to continue the pursuit. Sculpture is a physical art you dont get into it and stay in it if pain worries you. When I carve stone most times i dont even notice when some thing happens. That great big chunk finally comes off and falls to the floor glancing off your shin on the way.Its part of the process. I think secretly we all love it. Not too many painters can say they have bled for there art. Most sculptors have we are a brave and proud lot ( could be crazy and stupid too but its a fine line isnt it)

[Merlion]

Here is an extreme case. He lie in bed doing his sculptures, and can use one hand only. It would be considered impossible by any other person.

Uzbek Sculptor's Dreams Of Castro and Bill Clinton (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9F06E5D9153BF932A15752C1A961958260&n=Top%2FNews%2FWorld%2FCountries%20and%20Territori es%2FUzbekistan)

One of Central Asia's best-known sculptors spends his days in bed surrounded by his busts of world figures and statues of nudes, animals and joyful-looking children.

The sculptor, Qosim Mirzarakhimov, lost the use of his legs in a skiing accident when he was 12. In the 61 years since then, he has become not only an accomplished sculptor but also Uzbekistan's most-prominent handicapped citizen. ....

After his accident, Mr. Mirzarakhimov took art classes in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, and showed a talent for drawing. He turned to sculpture, he said, because he wanted to be unique.

''I'm an exception,'' he said. ''You can find disabled painters, disabled poets and disabled singers, but I don't know of any other disabled sculptor.''

Mr. Mirzarakhimov's right arm was also affected by his accident, and he works with his left hand only. He spends most of his time lying on his right side. Behind his bed are what he describes as his most important tools, a pair of crutches and a fly swatter. ....

[Daniel]

A good friend of mine who is (was) also a sculptor had a sudden aneurysm that turned him into a quadriplegic about eight years ago, at the age of twenty-nine. While he has commissioned others to execute some of his ideas, he can no longer make work of any kind with his hands. I suppose he could figure out a way to make shapes with a 3-d modeling program, but he hasn't been able to regain enough control of even some limited muscle movement to control a cursor.

This just always reminds me that our time is so limited. If there are things that we are passionate about and want to create, there is no time like the present. Who knows if we'll still be around tomorrow to give life to all those ideas that have been prancing around in our minds?

[Merlion]

I made a search for famous artists with severe disabilities. Here below is a site listing five, with a brief description of each. They are Claude Monet, Vincent Van Gogh, Dorothea Lange (1895-1965, photographer), Frida Kahlo (1907-54, painter), and Mark di Suvero (b. 1933, sculptor).

They are all very determined. Apparently the severe disability provided them the extra motivation to draw on their inner strength.

Famous Artists with Disabilities. (http://www.vsarts.org/PreBuilt/showcase/gallery/exhibits/dwai/famous_suvero.html)

Among these Mark di Suvero is a sculptor and a comtemporary.

[Merlion]

Do you have some disabilities?

[john66]

Well here is a short story of my situation, in 1997 i broke my back at work and 11 years later a 5 operations and 1 week in the icu nearly becoming compost i made it back to the world of sculpting. I live every day in sever pain and take alot of medication just to get through a day, i have good days and i have alot of bad days. But i do agree that since i started sculpting it basically saved my life, when i work on a project i am all 100% involved in my work and the pain that i normally feel is far removed from my conscious. it takes me longer to finish a sculpture than most people im sure but i still get them done, Patience, Passion, and Courage, I think i have them all.

[andycov]

John
I relate to you very much as about ten years ago I sneezed(yes you would not believe it) and my discs in my lower back prolasped severely and I was admitted to the spinal unit.My sciatic nerves and spinal cord were compromised.I was in wheelchair for nearly a year and every day I tried to walk.I have had surgery involving huge screws and plates and rubber spaces along with alot of bone fusion.I suffer pain every day and have learnt to live with it.
In short sculpting was my life savior and although sometimes it does cause pain and I can be alot slower than once before I believe it has been the key to my sanity and depresion control.Now it is my livlehood and puts food on my familys table.(Yes we are thin people).In a way I do not regret the injury as it has forced me to do what I love and drives me to learn more and more everyday.I have learnt that sometimes the hardest times can be the greatest inspiration.

[oscar]

It really sucks being disabled with bipolar disorder. It's an invisible disability. It ruins careers. Gets you thrown out of schools. You have this huge IQ but are just plain socially stupid. You look just fine. People think you just need to pull up your bootstraps. People think there are pills to cure it. There isn't. People think all cases of bipolar are the same. They are not. There are extreme cases and mild cases.

Because of the high IQ your art is way the heck too wacked out for people. They can't comprehend it. You end up destroying lots of your own work because of storage problems. Sometimes you discover things that will shift the world forward in dramatic ways only to have them written off as delusions of granduer. Other times you spend years researching and developing working futuristic inventions but no one will even listen for you don't have any degrees, any money, and the bipolar makes you a nut case in their eyes. In fact, everything you say is dismissed, everything, because you are a loony bipolar nut. A nut sitting on an IQ over 180 who has developed items that can benefit the world emmensly. But you are dismissed. Here lies a great problem causing a back swing in the progression of western civilization. Whatever, right?

My back does not hurt. My legs are intact. But I cry everday for being held back. I could have, I can, help this world so much. Instead I live in the pain of non acceptance. I live knowing of great new things. It's painful ....

[steponmebbbboom]

It really sucks being disabled with bipolar disorder. It's an invisible disability. It ruins careers. Gets you thrown out of schools. You have this huge IQ but are just plain socially stupid. You look just fine. People think you just need to pull up your bootstraps. People think there are pills to cure it. There isn't. People think all cases of bipolar are the same. They are not. There are extreme cases and mild cases.

Because of the high IQ your art is way the heck too wacked out for people. They can't comprehend it. You end up destroying lots of your own work because of storage problems. Sometimes you discover things that will shift the world forward in dramatic ways only to have them written off as delusions of granduer. Other times you spend years researching and developing working futuristic inventions but no one will even listen for you don't have any degrees, any money, and the bipolar makes you a nut case in their eyes. In fact, everything you say is dismissed, everything, because you are a loony bipolar nut. A nut sitting on an IQ over 180 who has developed items that can benefit the world emmensly. But you are dismissed. Here lies a great problem causing a back swing in the progression of western civilization. Whatever, right?

My back does not hurt. My legs are intact. But I cry everday for being held back. I could have, I can, help this world so much. Instead I live in the pain of non acceptance. I live knowing of great new things. It's painful ....

You know what some bipolar people and others with pervasive developmental disorders like aspergers and borderline actually blossom in online communities because the written word combined with the social interplay gives them a voice where gauche body language and IRL reputation shuts them out. you want to know why it isnt working for you?

Because for all your 200+ posts not ONCE do we see these grand ideas and intellectual noodlings and deconstructive ruminations come out we see NOTHING but backhand after insult after petulant criticism not ONE glimpse of this vulnerable lonely tortured brilliant soul you protect behind layer upon layer of useless bullshit armor which does NOTHING to protect the WORDS you type on a SCREEN in an online community which might actually exact some measure of PEACE and ACCEPTANCE in this tortured life you lead.

so WHEN the F**K are you going to pick up your keyboard and f**king WRITE something.

END your SUFFERING. AND OURS

WRITE.

[Landseer]

I do not think that the approach should be to preserve your body...quite the opposite, it should be used up, drained of its potential, expended in the intensity of performing your labors and executing your challenges,

Go forth ye, labour on, spend and be spent!

[Landseer]

You know what some bipolar people and others with pervasive developmental disorders like

not ONE glimpse of this vulnerable lonely tortured brilliant soul you protect behind layer upon layer of useless bullshit armor which does NOTHING to protect the WORDS you


There probably isn't one person alive who doesn't have some kind of so called problems, I don't remember reading Oscar but I'm familiar with bi-polar and a lot of others since I dealt with a lot of people with them when I ran a health/mental health and sexuality forum when the one I helped moderate closed down leaving 5,000 members out of a forum.

I remember the bi-polar lady who never left her house, kept all the windows covered with drapes to keep out light, and maybe slept 4 hours if she did between cycles. Lots of us tried to draw her out but it didn't work.

She would literally spend HOURS- all night even composing a long rambling post with all kinds of different text, fonts, colors, icons, banners etc.
And she talked about suicide, depression and family who didn't visit much, then one day we noticed no daily good morning posts from her, but since no one knew what her full name/location/email were all we could do was wait.
She never appeared again, we had no idea what happened.

Another animal lover I knew years ago who was in Canada, on a forum we went to- was similar but worse, he would vasilate between such things as gloating about 9/11, wishing I was in the buildings, that our economy would collapse, and asking me for my advice on a new lower fat cooker he wanted to buy at a pawn shop. He was like jeckle and hyde, would get info on people and blab it all over, and everyone either hated this guy or threatened him. He would log in as his mom and try to explain "her son" and plead for patience, and he would log in as himself and threaten his mom in posts or in chats.

He was arrested once after "crashing" the US/Canadian border with his truck, horse trailer and horse to get to a friend's place in Missouri, sent back to Canada sans his stuff, sneaks back in and stays with the friend, then swallows a bottle of the guy's pills from the medicine cabinet and winds up in the hospital, deported back to Canada and put in a mental hospital by his mom for treatment. Later he claimed everyone was after him and everyone cheated him and on it went.
He simply seemed to vanish without a trace amidst a lot of very angry people who knew where he lived and made it known freely.

[steponmebbbboom]

There probably isn't one person alive who doesn't have some kind of so called problems, I don't remember reading Oscar but I'm familiar with bi-polar and a lot of others since I dealt with a lot of people with them when I ran a health/mental health and sexuality forum when the one I helped moderate closed down leaving 5,000 members out of a forum.

I remember the bi-polar lady who never left her house, kept all the windows covered with drapes to keep out light, and maybe slept 4 hours if she did between cycles. Lots of us tried to draw her out but it didn't work.

She would literally spend HOURS- all night even composing a long rambling post with all kinds of different text, fonts, colors, icons, banners etc.
And she talked about suicide, depression and family who didn't visit much, then one day we noticed no daily good morning posts from her, but since no one knew what her full name/location/email were all we could do was wait.
She never appeared again, we had no idea what happened.

Sup Oscar, you wanna be another statistic?

WRITE

[oscar]

Wow, the guy with the hurt back isn't treated like sh*t. Everyone understand the difficulties with this disability now?

[GlennT]

Wow, the guy with the hurt back isn't treated like sh*t. Everyone understand the difficulties with this disability now?

Its a matter of context. On this forum, people are judged, inso far as judgement occurs, based on either their words, or their artwork, or both. In your case, just the words.

Andycov has words that show an inspirational drive to overcome, and no blame or criticism of others. Your words are full of self-pity and blame, and criticism of others. That is why the "treatment" is different.

Now, if the context were picking a team for a game of baseball, perhaps you would be chosen before him, if you are in decent physical shape. In that context, your ability to move aropund the bases or catch a ball would be more relevant than your verbal communication skills. (although, if I were captain, I would not choose whiners and complainers. Sports are for fun, after all)

So, then perhaps in a baseball game Andycov would have cause to feel like he was being treated with less compassion than he would like. Still, I think if that were the case he would handle it like a man.

[oscar]

Wow, unbelievable!

would handle it like a man

What an ass!

[oscar]

So, I'm perplexed. If one handles bipolar disorder LIKE A MAN, they will be ok? Gosh, Britney Spears is really going to have a difficult time!

[Landseer]

Wow, the guy with the hurt back isn't treated like sh*t. Everyone understand the difficulties with this disability now?

There ARE treatments out there for those who want change and to stop being a victim of society. You can't change society, so you either ignore society and make your own world or you seek help/treatment and LEARN how to cope- just like the guy with the broken back using one hand to sculpt rather than sitting at home broodingand collecting checks.

[oscar]

Treatments are not cures. I'm not an idiot. I sought treatment long ago. It's maintenace. Just like diabetes, sorta. That's why I'm still alive...oh..and the art!!!!

As for blaming society? No one believes anything that a bipolar says. So I suppose I'm writing to the wind, but here goes....

Bipolar disorder, the genius disease, is incurable and what causes it is still unknown...to most! It is thought to be caused by genetics, or enviroment, or both. This is easily believed. It's well documented. What will not be believed is that it can be given to someone! That's right!

When I was 17 I was pursued very heavily by the Air Force, to join. I didn't. Subsequently a CIA operative slipped me hallucinogens. This coupled with the severe stress of being laid off from the factory I was illegally working in to support myself, going to high school full time, losing my apartment and fearing homelessness, I cracked. I had my first manic episode. I thought I was Christ.

I don't give a crap if anyone believes me! "They" fried my brother for not joining also. He isn't bipolar. Just fried! That's what happened!!!!! Blame society? No! I blame the oligarchy!

[evaldart]

Shit jobs, loss, flirtations with homelessness, addictions, accidents, disorders, delusions of grandeur and grand disappointments. Sounds like the life of many, many artists I know who yet still made a pleasant existence for themselves. Maybe I'm one of em.
take it like a man, indeed, Damn yer embarrassing me.

[oscar]

take it like a man

Sorry, I'm straight.

[oscar]

Ok, my apologies to everyone. I made everything up. Sorry. Gotta go. Just ignore everything I said and I'll go away. My mama's yellin at me again!

[Landseer]

When I was 17 I was pursued very heavily by the Air Force, to join. I didn't. Subsequently a CIA operative slipped me hallucinogens. This coupled with the severe stress of being laid off from the factory I was illegally working in to support myself, going to high school full time, losing my apartment and fearing homelessness, I cracked. I had my first manic episode.


Umm, that's called LIFE dude, and I'm sure we ALL have similar experiences, you are not exactly unique in that regard- You wanna talk "stress"? I LIVED my teen years in a ONE BEDROOM NYC apartment with an adoptive mother who was diagnosed paranoid schitzophrenic and tried to kill me when I was 12, who broke dishes, furniture and beat on my dad, took her medications- Darvon, Demerol and more, went to bed, woke up later and didn't remember any thing, then demanded to know who stole the dishes and furniture (by then removed and cleaned up) we couldnt have a telephone because she would call dad up at work all night to harass him, then they'd have fights when he came home from working his business- usually around 1 or 2 AM, around 2 or 3 AM the dishes, milk, food and books would hit the freaking walls and the arguments would go on.
Trying being a teen in that situation, I couldn't have friends over because "my room" was my parent's bedroom, I didn't date either.

"Stress"? by the time I was 22 I worked a full time job and FOUR part time jobs, I worked 7 days a week and every holiday. how about coming home from working graveyard shift and laying down to bed and then waking up because of water hitting your face from the ceiling, and then your entire place getting flooded out by a frozen/cracked high pressure fire sprinkler main riser that no one could shut off for hours because the valve to shut it off was replaced with a straight pipe?

How about AFTER the flood with everything you own (clothes, piano, books, photos, furniture, stereo, hundreds of boxed sets of LP's, all uninsured) water soaked in January weather and NO HEAT, while living on the top two floors- 4th and 5th of that building with 25 tons of sculptures, everything you own, 4 dogs and having the city building inspectors come nail a sign on the door while you are at work that they ordered an immediate emergency VACATE NOTICE and were sealing the building?

How about having to rush out and get/pass a driver's test to get your first driver's license as fast as you could to be able to drive your moving trucks? I DID IT, or to move out of there with NO ELECTRIC for the elevator? you think you could figure out how to get an electric freight elevator to run up and down 6 floors without ELECTRIC?

*I DID IT MR* and I sweat blood and tears but I made it happen with NO help from anybody.

You feared homelessness, while I *WAS* homeless living in a partially converted school bus with 5 dogs and a litter of puppies. That was after being evicted from a rented "pad" because I couldn't find a job in my new state and didnt have a car- just the bus to drive because I had just moved there on advice of a friend who said there were lots of jobs around. The "lots of jobs" were minimum wage, paid every other week and were part time in a city that cost more for me to drive to in gas than I was earning at one.

I rolled pennies and pocket change to buy DOG FOOD and went to a church group for a freaking food box.
It was freaking hot- over 100 degrees as it was July and I had NO A/C NO hot or running water, NO phone, NO credit cards, NO cash, NO job, NO one who could send help, and in a new place, on top of all that my dad was 3,000 miles away when a sheriff's deputy told me to call home, turned out dad was in the hospital getting an emergency triple bypass, around the same time grandma in F.orida who had been hit by a car near the grocery was in physical therapy with her broken leg when she died suddenly of a blood clot. The reason dad had heart pain that sent him to the hospital was he was at the morgue identifying a family member who died.

STILL think YOU had "stress"?

I'll wager a bet there's LOADS of colleagues here in this forum who went thru hell and back, or have physical disabilities and are still IN hell, but they get off their asses and done whine about how bad they got it compared to others, and make themselves a life.

I paid MY dues dude, and I, like most here who worked hard thru thick and thin deserve every bit of success we get today.


No matter how bad you think you have it, there's always someone else who has it WORSE.

[manic]

Oscar, I too have been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder (hint: manic, duh) on more than one occassion.
I know the ins and outs of it all. I think your preaching to the choir on this forum. I have zero sympathy for your plight as others have none for mine. Since you are obviously not going to talk about sculpture in a constructive way and only seek to tear down others to the level which you have debased yourself to, I implore you to please...just go away. Life sucks and all that...blah, blah, blah. You believe you are original and profound. Everyone here has heard it all before. So much so that you are considered either a nuisance or a joke that some find humor in. I am sure that some will disagree with my opinion of you, but I know your delusions of genius and grandeur all to well. Since you are capable of describing your situation in detail, I know your are also capable of contributing to this forum in the manner to which it was created. Unfortunately, you choose not to. So, no. I don't care about your petty little problems. Go find a mental health forum and screech at yourself all you want.

[fritchie]

Oscar, post 24: "When I was 17 I was pursued very heavily by the Air Force, to join. I didn't. Subsequently a CIA operative slipped me hallucinogens. This coupled with the severe stress of being laid off from the factory I was illegally working in to support myself, going to high school full time, losing my apartment and fearing homelessness, I cracked. I had my first manic episode. I thought I was Christ."

If you think the CIA slipped you drugs because you didn't join the Air Force at 17, I think you may be incurably paranoid. I'm no expert on bipolar disorder, but with a long career at a university, I did see some cases and discussed the possibilities with campus psychologists and psychiatrists. It's common for this problem to appear first in the mid to late teens or twenties, as the brain undergoes rapid internal changes with maturation.

[oscar]

Everyone is an expert on anything with 15 minutes on Google (sarcasm). Gotta love armchair shrinks (sarcasm).

I've edited this at least 12 times trying to give more explanation to what happened to my brother and I. Years ago I tried to present my research and built items to the public. It didn't work. I thought maybe I could battle through the personal side of things and then present that work here on this forum as sculpture. That aint gonna work either.

I guess I'll hang in there about 10 more months and check out the new administrations new SBIR's.

paranoi this (you know the gesture I'm showing)

[fritchie]

I look forward to further comment when you're ready. You're right about fascinating material being reported through serious science and medical sites, and made available in rough form through Google.

DNA analysis from worldwide samples shows specific intelligence-related proteins that seem to have spread very rapidly over the last 20,000 years or so, very fast by gene standards. At least some people think that's because they convey large selection advantage.

[Landseer]

DNA analysis from worldwide samples shows specific intelligence-related proteins that seem to have spread very rapidly over the last 20,000 years or so, very fast by gene standards. At least some people think that's because they convey large selection advantage.

When you consider that we share about 96% of the same DNA as animals, small changes can make big differences.

[Aaron Schroeder]

How much disabling injury can a sculptor take ?

Sculptors can take on the most disabling injury and triumph over any and all challenges. There's not a single thing that we cannot overcome. Our will, our spirit is the most powerful force in the universe. Sometimes we find ourselves down and out and life sucks........but then we get handy and take control. We focus our energy, choose our battles and fight until our last breath. We accept our mortality and count ourselves among those that are doomed to die, we pace ourselves and maximise the little time that we are given........leaving something for those that follow to contemplate and embrase. We see what we can do ........and we do it ......with a fierce and charged determination that sets an example for all. We make things that remind us where we've been and where we hope to go. Whether we're wrong or right ...we make a statement......in materials that outlast us.......informing others about who we are. Life springs eternal and looks for insight.....so grateful for those who made the time, to take the time to capture the time to share with those beyond the present.

I could go on and on.............

Sculptors can take alot .....and then some. We're as tough as they get.

[fritchie]

Re Oscar 31: Many thanks for trying to do this. I've clearly no way of understanding what you were trying to do, but thanks anyway.

On SBIR, I had to Google that. It's NASA's relatively new "Small Business Innovation Research" program. I wish you well with that or any other approach you take, and as for trees blowing in the wind, that happens often. Take care and hope to hear more soon.

[oscar]

I guess Google can't make everyone an expert after all. Over 15 govt. agencies award SBIR's including all branches of the military, agriculture, transportation, etc. The program has been around a long time. Basically, these programs are seeking innovators to solve specific problems. The problem sets change periodically and new adminisrations usually mandate a set of new problems. It's a pretty neat program. They basically will assist in building your company and will provide essentials such as administration, etc.

The lure of an SBIR for the small person is of course the support and financial backing but also, if one applies in direct response to the given problem, they will retain all patent rights. Open submissions forfeit patent rights.

I was in application process when President Bush came in and requested a different set of SBIR's. 8 years later, I find myself being a kid on a message forum. I ask God for the strength to endure these times and to allow me to introduce to the world, that which He has given me. 3 candidates. Which one will produce the SBIR's to propell this country and the world, into the next wonderful frame of existence!?!

[fritchie]

So why didn't you submit a new application under the Bush set of needs? Didn't anything match what you wanted to do? All federal money is politically driven in one way or another, especially money to solve specific problems. NASA has been pretty free of that sort of short-term mechanism until the last year or two. Probably that's why it came up early in the Google search. I only looked for the basics.

[Tired Iron]

Fritchie, why do you bother answering these posts? A leopard can't change his spots. I feel as though so many people are trying to cuddle this guy who can't help saying things like " I guess google dosen't make everybody an expert". He dosen't seem to notice that people are trying to accept him and that just by deleting that one sentence (omitting it) that the whole post would sound great without the negative beginning. I tried to ignore this thread and every other one he intrudes on (even though this is histhread) but it might be better to just stay away from the forum. His negativity gets under my skin and others as well as is evident from the responses . I guess he never heard " If you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything." Have a nice day.:)

[grommet]

i guess ech of us, in our own way, is immensely saddened that everyone else is not as fabulous as we, personally, are. ;)
I just want you to know I think you ARE all fabulous, contribute immensely, make me think, grind me into a better person, keep me coming back with your own unique contributions. How boring it would be if everyone were the same. Be your own exotic bloom.
Peace,
G
(no, I don't do drugs)

[oscar]

Best military strategy there is, take and hold the middle.

[fritchie]

Landseer, post 42. I'm not actually going to red-flag you over this, but please watch your language. Mods have to be consistent and I've done both on other similar occasions.

[Landseer]

Landseer, post 42. I'm not actually going to red-flag you over this, but please watch your language. Mods have to be consistent and I've done both on other similar occasions.

Saved you the trouble, we are going WAY off topic anyway.

[Landseer]

If you are going to go off topic into politics Oscar, then start a new thread, this one was about disabling injuries not the Iraq war.

[oscar]

Disabling injuries....sculptors.... Iraq....war....

Add em up people! Lets give the disabled vets some more opportunity... Train a Vet to sculpt!

[GlennT]

Lets give the disabled vets some more opportunity... Train a Vet to sculpt!

In fact I was doing this at the VA hospital polytrauma unit in Minneapolis. As part of recreational therapy, I taught some wounded vets to sculpt bas-relief while they were recovering. Fortunately the numbers of patients able to do this dropped so low that my service was no longer needed.

Oscar, there is probably no better way to get over the depression one is experiencing than to volunteer to help others who are in even more difficult circumstances. Perhaps you could volunteer to teach sculpting at a local VA hospital, or to children with terminal or serious conditions. Giving, and becoming responsible for being a bright moment during someone else's difficulty can show new value and meaning to your life.

[grommet]

Fortunately the numbers of patients able to do this dropped so low that my service was no longer needed.
I trust you mean that there were fewer patients in general, not that there weren't capable patients???
XXX
The Editor's daughter ;)

[GlennT]

Good eyes, editor;), but in fact my language was precise, abbreviating the circumstance. There were indeed much fewer patients in general, but also at any given time only a few of the patients there could actually physically get out of their beds to participate in the activity, or otherwise were in the recovery stage appropriate for this type of therapy. So eventually the number of patients was sufficient, but they were not the type who could participate.

I of course was not referring to the capabilities of those who came to learn or sculpt. For many it was a welcome thing to focus with intensity of something fun, difficult, and unfamiliar in art rather than the stress of their physical condition. And also the rekindling of the idea that one can still create despite the loss of former wholeness.

It was an unusual task because the length of stay varied between patients from a week to a couple of months. Some were able to take a project to completion, showing amazing progress and fortitude, others were only there long enough for an intial lesson or two.

[oscar]

A friend of mine went to college with a lot of Viet Nam vets. They were in the same dorm and were in wheelchairs. That's more of what I had in mind. Those who have been out of the hospital for some time. I also think it would be excellent therapy for the shell shock, or post tramatic stress syndrome.

[Scout]

I have not been here very often because I hate the controversy that always pops up. This is the first thread I opened and sure enough, there it is. Anyway if I skip certain posts, this is a very good thread. I'm thinking that EQ started this conversation. Where is he anyway?

I have not seen any work from you Oscar. Did I miss it? Why aren't you putting your energy into art? If you have so much in you, we'd like to see it. Passion can be a good thing or it can eat you up from inside. Everyone here would rally beside you if you would just give life to your dreams instead of maintaining the nightmare you live in. We can't help you except in your art. Do it! Scout

[Landseer]

I'm thinking that EQ started this conversation. Where is he anyway?

I have not seen any work from you Oscar. Did I miss it?

He left the forum, read the thread "Bye" he is still on our art forum however.
You did not miss any work, he is angry with us and refuses to show anything, we suspect there is nothing to show as the reason.

Had a guy on another forum I was on who claimed he built this "Grand Armoir" using a few hand tools and a Sears radial arm saw to build it all by himself in his garage in a couple of weekends, but some of us were doubtful and then one day someone recognised the picture he posted of "his" armoir as having been a photo of a commercially made piece of furniture.

[Scout]

Well Oscar. I don't think past post make a hill of beans. Start now, just talk about what you love. Ignore what you don't like. We all go through adversity and either grow from it or let it get us. I prefer to wake up everyday with a chill in my stomach thinking about the clay in the garage. What is it you love? I don't think I have ever heard you say. It's much more rewarding talking about positive things then defending something that is only unpleasant for you and for everyone. You obviously have tremendous passion, but you are not the only one. How can you let your pain overshadow that? Open your eyes. See the beauty in yourself AND in others. You will not agree with all things, don't defend... learn!!!

Show us your work... you don't need to grovel. We can learn from you just as you can learn from us. Not everyone will like what you do... but learn you will! Show us! Scout

[Scout]

Oscar, you have a knack for keeping adversity going. Why do you do that? No one reads past posts anyway. Start from here. If you can't do that then I think everyone will be disgusted with you and mostly ignore you. I want to see your passion but I will not be bullied. Show us your work. Do you have any to show us? Or is your work locked up in your head and you are afraid to let it out. Show us, even if you have no work you are welcome just to talk about it but not so ugly. Tell us something about what you want to do. Please get hold of yourself and join us... don't battle against us! Scout

[Scout]

Well, I see you got your little adversity in there in the last sentence. The challenge, the spit in the face. I'm sorry but I can't help you. Scout

[Scout]

Posts are forever on the net. All posts are in everyones email notifications. You can't run from what you say. None of us can. Start from here and join us. Scout

[Cantab]

An epiphany on the grand subject of pain and injury.

Because I use my thumb on the shaft of my carving chisels to stabilise the tool, I ended up with a clicking thumb and pain.

So I stopped using my thumb to stabilise the tool. The thumb repaired itself. I have also found that I don’t actually need that thumb on the chisel….

[grommet]

An epiphany on the grand subject of pain and injury.

Because I use my thumb on the shaft of my carving chisels to stabilise the tool, I ended up with a clicking thumb and pain.

So I stopped using my thumb to stabilise the tool. The thumb repaired itself. I have also found that I don’t actually need that thumb on the chisel….

Great discovery! If only it were always that easy...