Bernat's Story (PART 2)

How has your journey in wood carving influenced your personal life and family relationships? Have they had to deal with piles of wood shavings at home?

At first, I always carved from home, and indeed, I spent the day sweeping. First, my mother complained about the shavings.

And when I moved in with my cousins, I always had to clean the living room of all the mess I had made before they got home from work.

I always had support from everyone. This situation improved quite a bit when Carlos @charlywoodbcn convinced me to rent a workshop in a shared space. That’s when things started to get serious. Thanks, Carlos!

Later on, I had the means to rent my own space up until today. I'm very happy with the change and all the possibilities it has opened up!

Is there any artist or figure in the world of wood carving that makes you say, "Wow, I want to be like him/her!"? What lessons have you learned from them?

Many people inspire me, both friends and artists I don't know personally, but I have zero desire to be like them!
I come from the world of Hip Hop, where what is valued is having your own style!

One artist who always blows my mind is Caleb Woodard. 
He and his team carve incredible pieces with a very defined style. If you see their pieces, you know they made them 100%. They create frames, chests, stools, and even sliding doors, all with amazing designs.

In general, you always learn a bit from every person/artist.

Andrea is very good at promoting her projects and always comes up with new proposals, adapting very well to change.

From Carlos, an excellent turner, I don’t know anything he doesn’t know or can’t do; he always finds a solution to all his challenges with wood.

Pavel is another friend who continues to surprise me to this day, similar to Carlos, but with his own flair; he extracts super practical things from wood in a very efficient way.

When you see your students progress in their skills, do you feel like you’ve created mini-masters of carving?

It makes me happy to see how confident they feel carving new and challenging things.

 They dare to try anything.

 Esther, with her headboard in mind, is carving everything in front of her without hesitation.

Victor comes up with very different designs and has no trouble creating new carvings, none of which resemble the previous ones.

You wouldn’t believe Ale had only carved one piece before the second one; right now, she’s carving some stunning wings!

Can you share any memorable anecdotes from your workshops that made you laugh or cry with emotion?

In general, there’s always very good energy in the workshops. Sometimes, I encounter people who struggle more than average, and on a personal level, it frustrates me not to find a way to teach them.

I almost always manage to find that small piece of advice or the way that person will understand the exercise, and when I can’t, I feel bad.

Many other times, the energy is incredible, creating an almost festive atmosphere. A shout-out to Iva Sara from Huesca and Liam from the UK; that workshop was fantastic!

What role do community and your family play in your work and wood carving? Are they your number one fans or your funniest critics?

My family always supports all my projects. Neus and Ramón have a creative workshop in Mataró, and if you walked into that place, you’d be amazed at the amount of creativity that can exist in one space and within those two minds. Additionally, the love and warmth with which they welcome everyone is something I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Carlos always has some comments regarding the finishes. I share them because I often struggle to trust how a piece will turn out depending on the finish applied. 

My sister's response to my pieces is always the same: BRUTAL!! With more or fewer exclamation marks.

Andrea and Núria always tell me to charge more and stop thinking about billing by the hour; they are my unofficial managers.

You’ve already taught in Switzerland and Korea! Where else do you plan to take your workshops?

At the beginning of the next course, I’m going back to Switzerland, Geneva, and Zurich! And also, as a novelty, I’ve managed to set up a 20-hour Chip Carving workshop at The Makers Society in Dubai!

I’m very excited to see how they go, and I hope everything works out! Now it’s just time to promote the workshops and try to fill them up!

Convince us in one sentence why we should come tomorrow to carve wood with you.

I don’t want to convince you. I want to ensure that what you see and what you can achieve carving in the workshop makes you feel comfortable with yourselves!