Yes, you are of course correct. Primitive is a much more appropriate word that crude. This fellow had at least a dozen of these small carvings surrounding him. I wish I'd have gotten a shot of that.
I also wish I'd have taken photos of that angel from several different angles. The thing protruding from the figures right shoulder is a wing. I'm not sure about the panel on the front. I'd alway presumed it to simply be the front of the robe of the angel, but now I'm not sure.
He kept talking about Renaissance sculptures, and perhaps one of the things he referred to was church gargoyles. This figure, even though it's an angel, does seem to be crouching, almost like a gargoyle - maybe it has elements of both angel and demon? Wouldn't that be an interesting interpretation!!
I should go look for him again today, even though I haven't seen him on his usual corner for over a year.
Thanks for your thoughts.
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: Keith Whaley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: PAW #8 - The Soap Carver Date: Sat, 03 Apr 2004 02:52:04 -0800
frank theriault wrote:
I'm quite certain he was the artist. I'd seen him on that corner before, carving his figurines with a paring knife. In the second shot:
http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=2253677
you can seen the flecks of soap on his fingers, and around the cuticle of one of his fingernails.
I agree, the carvings are crude.
I'd call them primitive, Frank.
To me, "crude" implies done without skill. I think this figure has a class all of it's own.
This carving was skillfully done. Each feature has meaning to the carver. I wonder what that ear of corn looking object behind the right shoulder of the figure is supposed to be?
And, what is that vertical panel down the front center of the figure? What does it represent?
There's a lot going on in this mysterious figure. Intriguing!
I'm going to keep this for a while, to look at again and again... That feeling doesn't happen all that frequently.
keith whaley
I certainly wasn't presenting them asgreat art, or even art all. Maybe they are art, maybe not, but that's not the point. I was more interested that someone who seemed to me to be a poor tortured soul wanted me to look at and photograph a work that was obviously important to him.
I'd seen this man many times prior to taking this photo. Oddly, I've gone back to that corner and others near there since I took these, hoping to chat with him again, and maybe take a few more photos, but I've not seen him since. It's been a year now, and I've wondered what happened to him. I hope he's okay.
cheers, frank
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true." -J. Robert Oppenheimer
From: "Dr E D F Williams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: PAW #8 - The Soap Carver Date: Fri, 2 Apr 2004 20:54:29 +0300
Are you sure this man was the artist? I doubt it -- looking at his hands.
But this has nothing to do with the picture. The sculpture, if carved soap
can be described as such, is not so great either. But again that's not the
point. Or is it? I apologise for these words, but they say what I see.
Don
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