why the chipmunk winner , was more meaning full to me than the eagle,

hi folks i like to explain what i mean with the title, first both winners meant a great deal to me, but the chipmunk had more meaning to me, and the reason is it was a piece i was ready to chuck out the window, when i saw all the ckecks in the wood, ( cracks ) plus painting it was more work then normal for me, i never woodburned a piece after painting it, so i had a lot of things that went wrong with it, and to my surprise it became a winner,

so what did i learn , a few things i think every woodcarver should keep in mind,

one dont quit on a piece that is not working out, just find a way to correct it,

two, and learn from your mistakes

i learned that i put way to much of the spray to soften the wood up, ( water and alcohol mix) i got carried away with it , and the cracks appear, .. decided i could use this as a learning tool on the video and how to patch it, and so i had to decide then should i let folks know of my mistake or start the carving over along with the video ???, i decided to continue to video tape it anyway, so the video dvd and on youtube of the chipmunk is the piece that won at the show, mistakes and all, nothing hidden, but for all carvers to understand mistakes happens to all of us...but how we chose to do to correct it ! and now i am very happy that i continue to work on it and finished it.

and maybe i learned something even more on a spiritual side that we arent perfect and he that created us is always correcting something, but in the end we will be his first prise,,, that he doesnt chuck us aside, no matter who we are or what we done, and that my friends is the peace i have, that he that started the good work in you will complete it,,,,, take care and happy carving , arleen