Carvers create sculpture from a block of wood

Woodcarving offers numerous project possibilities.

By ALISON KEMP

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

CANFIELD — Tom Williams was told he would not be able to carve an American Indian out of a block of wood when he asked a friend for help.

He had never tried to carve something before, but a another friend told him he needed a hobby and suggested woodcarving.

“So I went home and did it,” Williams, of Boardman, said.

Williams has been carving for five years now and really enjoys the camaraderie he’s found with other carvers.

He’s a member of Western Reserve Woodcarvers, a woodcarving organization that has a booth behind the fine arts building at the Canfield Fair.

A handful or more of people were sitting at their booth all day carving wood blocks.

Some were working on caricatures; others, reliefs; and others, plants or animals.

How others got started

Club Vice President John Lorenzi liked woodworking, so when he saw the man who worked next to him in car production at the GM plant carving, he started carving with him during their breaks.

That was 15 years ago.

The numerous possibilities of projects available to woodcarvers is what keeps Lorenzi carving.

“You don’t need lots of tools,” he said. “There are so many things you can do; it’s endless.”

Jim Shevchenko, the club’s president, stressed that the woodcarving his club does is more serious than whittling, and the carvers also learn to sharpen tools and paint and finish the wood.

“It’s a challenge, keeps your mind sharp,” Lorenzi said.

Youth interest

One of the high schoolers who participates in the club got involved because his parents bought him a carving tool at the Warther Carving Museum and Knife Factory in Dover, Ohio.

John Hane, 15, of Brookfield, has carved since he was 11. He sometimes uses step-by-step books to help him create something, like he was Sunday when he was making a dog.

He said when he does not know how to make something, he will ask another carver or use a book.

The members kept stating that anyone can try carving and anyone can learn this “different kind of sculpture,” Shevchenko said.

akemp@vindy.com