Get ahead of the carve
Whittle away some time at Artistry in Wood this weekend
Coastal Carvers will present its 32nd annual Artistry in Wood carving show and sale at Chinook Winds Casino Resort this Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 17 and 18.
The show features carving displays, hands-on seminars and woodworking supplies, along with antique decoys available for buying, selling and appraisals. This year’s featured artist is Terry Moss of Turner.
“About nine years ago I discovered wood carving — the tools, the knives, the gauges,” Moss said. “I didn’t know what I was doing when I started but I was immediately hooked.”
First drawn to caricature carving, Moss began by taking carving classes and working mostly by hand.
“Those early pieces were usually about 12 by 14 inches tall,” he said. “I got very emotionally invested in them.”
Then roughly five years ago, he went to the chainsaw carving competition held in Reedsport.
“I was completely enamored with the idea of doing what I’d been doing by hand, but with a chainsaw,” he said. “That’s when I started creating chainsaw carvings and selling them.”
Moss came to find out that people have different responses to the different styles of wood carving.
“I might spend several days on a hand-carved piece so it makes it hard for me to find a price that would be worth the time I spent,” he said. “But I can carve something with a chainsaw in an hour and someone will give me $500 for it.”
Surprisingly, Moss said, his front yard is not filled with his larger creations.
“I don’t have any chainsaw carvings at my house because they sell so quickly,” he said. “I can’t say the same for my hand carving. Those pieces mean a lot to me.”
As carving slowly grew in his life, so did his gratitude for finding it.
“I don’t do it for the money — although the money is nice,” he said. “When I do shows and people walk past my table and they smile, that emotional response is everything. To know I can do something with a knife that people really respond to — that’s incredibly rewarding.”
During the show, Moss will also be sharing his skills with visitors.
“On Friday I’ll be teaching a bottle-stopper class but that’s already sold out,” he said. “Saturday morning I’ll be doing a demonstration on how to carve hair.”
Moss will also have a table during the show, where he will show some of his smaller pieces, a few chainsaw carvings, and some rough-outs that will be for sale.
The journey to carving for Moss began entirely by chance.
“My wife and I were shopping at Fred Meyer and I was waiting for her to finish, so I picked up a copy of Woodcarving Magazine,” he said. “I had never even thought about it before that but I liked what I saw and it got me interested. I had no idea grabbing that one instead of a different one would totally change my life.”
Proceeds from this year’s Artistry in Wood show will benefit the Lincoln County Food Pantry.
The two-day event runs from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, Jan. 17, and from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, Jan. 18, at Chinook Winds Casino Resort, located at 1777 NW 44th Street in Lincoln City. For more information, go to coastalcarvers.org.
Demonstrations & Classes
Saturday, Jan. 17
10:30 am
Don Fromherz — Kids’ Carving
Fromherz will lead a carve-along project just for kids. Participants should bring carving tools if they have them; a limited number of tools will be available for use. Parents are asked to stay with their child.
10:30 am
Terry Moss — Talk & Demonstration: Carving Hair
Moss will discuss and demonstrate his approach to carving hair in figurative work.
1 pm
Nancy Girard — Adult Carving
Girard will lead a carve-along project. Participants are encouraged to bring their own tools; some tools will be available for use. Class limited to 15 students.
1 pm
Michael Meagher — Talk: Carving Comfort Birds
Meagher will share how he began carving comfort birds and walk through his process. Samples showing different carving stages will be available, along with templates.
Sunday, Jan. 18
10:30 am
Gene Tilton — Adult Carving
Tilton will lead a carve-along snowman project. Class is limited to 10 participants. Carving knife only; some knives will be available for use.
1 pm
Nancy Girard — Adult Carving
Girard will lead another carve-along project. Participants should bring tools if possible; some will be available for use. Limit 15 students.