"Rule 4: Consider everything an experiment." - Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules
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Today we're gonna make a whizzer!
I made this rawhide whizzer at Lakota Youth Development under the wise guidance of Mike Marshall.
The lore is that whizzers train your bow muscles! You can feel it after whizzing for a while - those forearms get a workout.
I want to make my own from a piece of Birch wood. It'll be heavier, and probably give a beefier whiz.
This is a traditional and indigenous craft. I learned it from Mike, a Lakota craftsman.
I wouldn't ever want to teach this project, or sell it. It's not mine to pass on. But I do want to play with the idea and have fun making one myself.
There are lots of crafts which are shared across cultures, and can be really interesting to explore as traditions which connect us. Coracles in Ireland and Wales are made almost exactly the same by Lakota people, who call them Bull Boats.
Every culture and people have a tradition of some kind of basketry. Baskets are an amazing connection that we all share, indigenous to all lands.
Unlike boats and baskets and beading and buckskin, there's no tradition as far as I know in my own genealogy of making whizzers like this. This is an exploration, for me, as someone outside of this particular toy tradition.
My carving has been inspired by Jogge Sundqvist's latest book, Karvsnitt. I admit I haven't actually bought the book yet, but I do steal a peek every time I walk past a copy in the North House school store.
Karvsnitt is all about carving surface texture by using techniques such as chip carving. As you can probably see, I'm also still thinking about those Celtic knots from before. The trefoil design of this disc was supposed to invoke a Celtic-ish vibe.
So, I'm working towards some interesting textures with this one. Bit by bit our hands get smarter.
Thanks for whizzing with me today. As expected, this thing RIPS. See you tomorrow.
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"Rule 7: The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It's the people who do all of the work all the time who eventually catch on to things." - Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules
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