Where do you get ideas for your Pointy Sticks?
Personally, I find sleep deprivation, combined with hypoglycemia and high doses of caffiene, to be quite inspirational (which may also explain the origins of The Pointy Stick Compendium Project).Some find sniffing various finishing liquids to be stimulating. The college trained often resort to visiting libraries and researching Pointy Sticks through the ages, emulating the master Pointy Stick Makers of Yore - and Devonshire, Pique de Point, Ponte Sticco and the Chines province of Dung, noted for its shit stirring Pointy Sticks. Some study classic Roman and Greek Pointy Stick proportions - the Fools Golden Ratio being of particular interest. And some, the very rare, Blessed Ones, are born with the gift of Pointy Stick Making. Those with The Gift often describe the creative process as merely freeing the Pointy Stick from the surrounding wood.
For the novice Pointy Stick Maker I suggest just finding a piece of wood and then use almost every tool, hand or tailed, that youve got in your garage / shop / studio, to just start removing wood. Stop when you like what you see or start again on another piece of wood. Practice, practice, practice - that's the secret. After two or three hundred practice Pointy Sticks you'll begin to make nice Pointy Sticks. Around the 1,000 Pointy Stick mark you'll have developed a recognizable style that's all your own.
But what do I do with all the practice Pointy Sticks? Mount some on scraps of wood, apply a finish and give them to friends and relatives for birthdays, anniversaries, holidays etc. Tell them "It's a candle stick sticker, a paper notes spike, a North Star Finder, and antique paper hole punch." Use your imagination. Hell, give one to every art critic you can find on the internet then get an agent. Have a Pointy Sticks exhibit in one of them snooty art galleries. Serve runny cheese, vienna sausages, maybe some fondue and some Zinnfendel. Stop shaving and start wearing ponchos and clogs. Begin calling yourself Spike. and take to using snuff. Begin throwing in "marvelous", "fantasticafication" and "anti-representational" in your conversation. When you've made your first million dollars as an Artiste, send a few bucks my way for setting you on your path to riches and fame.
Now go and make some Pointy Sticks!