Paul Carrick

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Paul Carrick from Boston/Greensboro.  A lifelong summer person recently turned part-time year-rounder.  paulcarrick.com

Spangenhelm- work in progress.  13.5”h    I’ve been working on this carving during the isolation, it’s been a helpful tool for focusing my thoughts to a more constructive realm.  The species is butternut and the tree grew 100 feet from the cabin.  About 15 years ago it fell onto a row of cedar trees, I cut it away and tossed the logs into a damp area of the woods.  This was before I was carving and knew that it was a favorite yet uncommon species.  About a year or two back I learned what the wood species was, and I attempted to salvage some but much of it was already oatmeal.  I wound up with about 4 chunks with potential.  I was itching to carve but I had no real plan and didn’t want to waste good wood, so I picked the piece which seemed to have the least potential.   It had a lot of cracks in it and I expected it to fall apart when I started working with it.  Much to my surprise, the wood still carves beautifully and it has some of the most interesting variety in grain.   So much for it being “junk”! 

Comments

  1. Incredible work. I was captivated by all intricate work on your website. Thanks for sharing a bit about your process, it was interesting to learn how different spices of wood and their condition play into the final piece.

    1. Thanks, Keisha! You made this comment two months ago, but I’ve just seen it now- sorry for the late reply. There is an almost overwhelming amount of knowledge to absorb, and this wonderful corner of the world is one of the places where you can meet cheerful people who are happy to share it with you.

    1. Jaben- Thanks for for the kind words, and thank you for looking at more of my art! 🙂

  2. I am always in awe of someone who can take a block of wood (or marble, etc.) and bring to life something that was waiting there inside of it! This is beautiful!

  3. I appreciate the kind words, Trina! I had been a painter for many years, getting used to the new medium was quite a challenge. 2D vs 3D, adding paint vs removing wood… it was using completely different brain muscles.

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