Featured Artist Gary Carver

Artist Gary Carver presents a fascinating collection of handcarved bird sculptures that captures their expressions and behavior. Enjoy more by visiting his website.

 

 

On my journey to becoming a woodcarver, I traveled through a career in science. It was launched by being hit by a lightning bolt in high school when I learned about the periodic table of the elements. The relationships among elements and how they connected struck me as pure beauty. That led me to a Ph.D. in physics, followed by a career in scientific research.

 

 

Although I loved the order and logic of the physical universe, I also loved nature and our natural environment. I would often walk in the woods where, while soaking in the smells and sounds of the forest, I learned to identify plants, rocks, and animals. I especially liked identifying different kinds of trees and learning the properties of their woods.

 

 

To me, seeing how the elements of the forest work together to create a living environment—different from the physical environment of the universe—was beautiful in a warmer and more spiritual way. It was a counterbalance to the cold logical structure I saw in science.

 

 

Underlying, but separate from both my career and my enjoyment of nature, was my desire to create. Since I used wood often, I acquired woodworking tools and learned woodworking techniques. One day, in a woodworking catalogue, I saw a new kind of tool. It was a handheld power gauge for woodcarving. Because it looked like fun, I bought one to try out. It was fun! I have been carving ever since.

 

 

Wood is special because it was once alive. I love trees and making something out of wood feels like bringing part of a tree back to life. When I retired from work and began selling my carvings in art shows, I was thrilled that people would give me money and take my carvings to put in their homes. I was genuinely overjoyed when people told me that they already had one of my carved birds and it makes them smile every time they look at it.

 

 

For carving, I use wood that I find on the ground in the woods or that I cut from dead trees. People also give me old, weathered wood from fencing and structures. Carving “found” and vintage wood is challenging because of hidden surprises: internal flaws such as rot, insect damage, embedded nails, and other defects.

 

 

I want my carvings to show people the natural beauty of wood. I carve birds because I have pet birds (cockatoos and other parrot-types). People like birds and I am familiar and comfortable with bird shapes.

 

 

My stylized large, stand-alone birds are all one piece, without any additions (except glass eyes). I make it seem as though I exposed a bird that was hidden inside the log or beam. Large bird carvings are my most enjoyable and challenging projects. But for balance in my portfolio, and because some local galleries do not allow pedestals, I also create wall hangings featuring nuthatches or woodpeckers. In addition, I use smaller logs and old fence posts for turning “dry vases.”

 

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