Utah Valley Woodcarvers create beauty
In 1992 my husband Gary and I were taking a oil painting class In Benjamin, Utah at the Hone’s studio once a week. The artist teaching the class had been given permission by the Hone’s to use the studio for this purpose. But there was much more there than I had expected. The owner, Keith Hone and his son Craig were Master Carvers. My love of art in the round came from going down there once a week to learn oil painting and to marvel at the beautiful carvings everywhere in the studio. My desire was so strong to learn to carve that when Keith and Craig said they were going to teach a class on carving a chickadee, I had to be in it. I had never carved before except for ruining a couple of bars of soap and hiding them from my Mom. My desire was so high that when Gary was away on business, I took a week off of work and went to Benjamin. I have never stopped carving since. It is my joy and my peace. I now carve everything I can get my hands on and I have tried many different kinds of carvings from tiny little chip carving knives to big old chain saws.
My love for birds has been the subject of many of my carvings, and I have taken classes all over the United States from Salisbury, Maryland, to Garabaldi, Oregon. I have been blessed with an overwhelming desire to help others learn this wonderful hobby. It started with me just taking classes, then more classes, then assisting my good friend Susan Hendrix in teaching classes here and there for our club. Then she talked me into helping her with the Woodcarving Show, and then to being in charge of the show. I have now been involved with the show and the club for nine years. I also help teach carving and painting at the Senior Citizens Center in Payson every Tuesday. I can’t think of a better way to fill my time and since I have retired, carving is a major part of
my life. We have a wonderful club, the Utah Valley Woodcarvers, that meets every 2nd ursday of the month at Treeline, in Provo. Treeline is a place that I call a “carvers paradise” because they have everything a person could want for carving, from knives and chisels to power carving tools and books. We also meet from 1:00 to 4:00 in what we call “open carving” on ursdays, again at Treeline, where we teach others how to carve, and help others to have the same addiction we have. We are planning yet again another wonderful Carving Show this year in Spanish Fork at the Veterans Memorial Building on 400 North and Main Street, on October 10th and 11th. I am Show Chairman again this year and we have some great things planned including a drawing for a rocking horse frog. Bob Dailey, one of our carvers, made it and I painted it. Our friend Leah Goddard is coming from Florida, to sell her rough outs and teach us how to carve so looking realistic animal hair. She was here last year also and everyone loved her and asked that she come back. We will have some Chain Saw carvers coming that Jim Valentine, our own Chain saw artist, is rounding up and Je Wolfe, a local artist, is coming to show us how he creates in clay the beautiful sculptures he does. We also have Treeline setting up tables to sell us carving “stu ” and Dale Taylor setting a table to sell us safety gear for that carving “stu .” It is a juried Show and we usually have 150 to 200 beautiful carvings entered. is year you will be able to register your projects online at our website www.uvwc.org. Just click on Show Registration at the top of the page and ll out the paperwork. Please join us, you will love it. As you can see I am a carving nut, and I hope to help you all enjoy carving as much as I do, if not to do it, then to love looking at it. I have been carving for about 22 years and would love to see many of you take up this great pass time. We all need to be in the right side of our brain, the creative side, for a while and feel the happiness that it brings for days a er. Come and enjoy!