A simple artist mentoring story

This article is an excerpt from my forthcoming book: "Artists Mentoring Artists"

A simple mentoring system story

A long time ago, I showed my wood sculptures to a friend, Sam. He admired my work, and asked me to teach him. I’d learned to carve by watching and working alongside my father, so that seemed like a sensible way to proceed. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I constructed a simple mentoring system using all six Building Blocks.

1. Evaluate strengths, needs and aspirations. Sam had never done any kind of woodwork, so he needed to learn everything about how to use the tools and navigate the grain. He did have a good sense of design and was able to sketch his idea to achieve a particular effect with the grain.

2. Create opportunities to learn on the job. The workplace was my “studio”, my kitchen table, equipped with wood and an array of gouges and chisels. We would each work on a carving, as I had done with my father.

3. Define teaching and learning roles. My role was to provide tools, show Sam how to plan and make his cuts artistically and safely, and give him pointers as he worked. His role was to literally dig in, and to use the tools safely. The goal was for him to complete his first carving. Initially he worked only at my table, so I could advise him on the best way to cut the wood and not himself. We worked together once a week. When he gained skill and confidence, he would take his emerging sculpture and some of my tools with him to work on his own between our sessions.

4. Give direct feedback. Sam and I agreed that I would give artistic feedback in addition to skill- building guidance. He had to alter his design several times to accommodate the wood’s characteristics. I wanted to be sure he would feel receptive to my suggestions for changes. He agreed to ask questions to help me know what he wanted to learn. I had not taught anyone to carve before, so this was valuable to me.

5. Measure progress. I broke the process into clear steps: planning the design, cutting accurately and safely, roughing out the design on the wood, carving the details, and putting a finish on the piece. We planned at the beginning of each step and I congratulated at the end of each. The final measurement was that he made a carving he was proud of.

6. Reward the team effort. This mentoring was inherently fun and rewarding because we were friends, and he created a very nice piece of art. To make Sam’s “graduation” special, though, I gave him a small set of tools for his own. This was over 30 years ago, and I hope he’s still using them.