Becoming a World Famous Sculptor -
Good Carvers Who Aspire to Greatness
(And great carvers who need good apprentices)

This article was first published in “The Cutting Edge”, newsletter
for The Cascade Chainsaw Carver’s Guild

            My apprentices maintain everything from the floors to the books. Under my guidance, Journeymen apprentices learn the business of art by administrating the office, the studios and various retailing venues. They follow up leads, design with customers, produce the jobs -- even collect the payments.
            None of my apprentices are classified as employees, yet they can make enough money to support their living and apprenticeship from their education. The program's success is marked by the creative skills of the extraordinary professionals it produces. The program meets all legal and government requirements, which are minimal.
The whole exchange fosters accountability, since each participant is a free agent, ultimately responsible for his or her own domain. Everyone provides their own insurance, pre-arranges their own schedule and determines their own direction. No associate gets paid until a customer provides the money for something that artist did. This self-enforcing system is its own screening mechanism, with self imposed schedules closely adhered to.
            The high quality works produced by Timeless Sculptures are among the finest outdoor wooden statuary produced in America and range from floor-sized to monumental. Our schedule is filled for months; our works are eagerly received all over the world.
            My name is Matthew Welter and in my 30 year career I have trained scores of people to carve. I have developed a procedure using chain saws and power tools to produce and market life-sized wooden figures and natural furniture. For over two decades I have developed a system of teaching these procedures to people aspiring to work in the arts; an apprentice program we call "The Knowledge Exchange." Now I am experimenting with methods of teaching that system to masters who, discouraged at the prospect of employing people but still needing qualified help, would benefit from creating a similar program of their own. Timeless Sculptures is the parent company and host of this rare artist's confluence, located on the east slope of Nevada’s High Sierras, in the state's capitol, Carson City.            
            The company is almost entirely drivenby high-end commissions from private collectors.Sketches become wax "moquettes," built to scale using books and anatomical charts as reference. At times, live models are helpful. The moquettes are enlarged into wood, being supervised at prearranged stages, as a training technique. Sometimes molds are taken of either the moquette or the enlargement and "cold-cast" in bronze and other mediums. 
            The combined facilitiesprovidea superb exercise by which to train people in the production and marketing of wooden sculptures. Teaching skills are also stressed, since participants supervise one another's activities. Journeymen may ascend to Mastery, gaining the skills, practical understanding and backing to pursue their own enterprises.
            Apprentices will soon have the option of bartering artworks for the equipment needed to establish their own studios. This will enable the new Masters to complete speculative works and commissions, possibly for Timeless Sculptures.
            Now we will begin introducing accomplished, outside carvers into this program, by the following procedure. Your questions and insights are valued.
            "Visiting Journeymen" will be granted paid commissions, to be completed in our studio and within our training framework, in order to learn our carving procedure. This will give good carvers a chance to become great carvers, challenging everyone's limits. "Visiting Masters" will be given projects to complete in exchange for learning to develop a similar apprentice program of their own, tailored to their own situation. Participation in the Knowledge Exchange will be modified to fit individual situations, on a per-case basis.
            No one is above doing a dirty job! Visiting artists will contribute an hour of maintenance per day or help us with the real dirty work -- running the business.
            Timeless Sculptures maintains a spacious home in the cultural center of Carson City, as an artist's dormitory and modeling studio. This facility allows visiting artists to come and go as their situation dictates, possibly bartering room fees for artworks.
            Our goal is to develop a loose network of skilled artists who can participate on future projects that could require the efforts of many sculptors!