GEM CARVING

The major purpose of carving gems and other allied materials is to develop self expression beyond that which can be shown through other lapidary forms. It provides relaxation and the stimulating pleasure of work for the carver. It conveys his feelings and concerns to those who look at his finished pieces of work. It utilizes beautiful materials, greatly enhancing their natural color and charm, bringing out many interesting things about them.

ABILITY

Lack of ability should be of little concern to those who wish to carve. If your talents have supported you in cabochons, faceting, flats, spheres, etc. you will find you are ready to advance into carving. Many of us who have failed in work requiring symmetry principally will find great ease in doing artistic shapes and contours.

NEEDS FOR CARVING

The needs for some simple but effective carving projects are largely time in proportion with the estimated extent of the job, material of quality worthy of the effort, a shop or place to work, facilities, such as most of us already have, plus a small amount of reasonably priced carving equipment which is generally available to the hobbyist throught the various lapidary suppliers. The most important requirements of all are interest and desire.

THE FASCINATION OF CARVING

One of the greatest fascinations of carving is the observation of your own progress. It becomes a matter of regular procedure to look upon your own work with a critical eye; to note your improvement. Your appreciation of hand work will grow immensely, even to the extent that you can enjoy quality and meaning in other hand work that you may not have understood before. So great is the pleasure of developing designs for your choice material that you will find yourself willing to invest much care in them. This care alone will express meaning to others and will bring out the compliments, encouraging you to continue developing your ability.

TYPES OF CARVING

In brief, intaglio is an incised design. Cameo is a raised design. Carving in the round is a complete three dimensional form. The carver should consider all of these, and practice them enough to become familiar with them, but he should specialize in one.

Intaglio is comparatively fast, because it requires the cutting away of little material. It is a method requiring very precise sharp cuts as a rule. Therefore it takes a lot of practice in manipulating the stone about a revolving tool in order to control the design. It would be well to try cutting through a layer of one color into another if you have such material.

The sheer pleasure and fascination of cameo work is the greatest reason for its popularity among carvers. It is the kind of carving that utilizes nearly any material and eliminates much of the confinements of intaglio, without requiring larger equipment used in carving in the round. It is possible in cameo carving of soft materials, such as shell, amber, etc. to sit in the arm chair and enjoy your work without making a mess. In cameos one can take advantage of working slowly, taking off a little material with each stroke of the tool, allowing maximum control and time for deiding each cut. It is a good type of work to begin on.

Carving in the round, or three dimensional work, is a very natural art. Only in it does one avoid the transforming of perspective into a plane. Due to the usual elimination of background, it is simple and direct. Woking in the third dimension usually calls for the cutting away of much material, and except on small work, exercises a large scope of effort. It uses materials beautifully that look better in thicker sections. Contrary to a common belief, especially in the rounds, one should decide his own subject and style with an eye for utilizing the best in the piece, thereby allowing the shape of the material to merely suggest, but not control, the work.