Wood Carvings by Paul Aydelott at Dust and Shavings

These unique wood carvings are one-of-a-kind works of art. I created each over a period of weeks with great attention to the level of detail.  I tried to capture the personality of people through slight shifts in the eyes, smile, or facial expression.  Sometimes, it just happens in the wood--don't know why.

A Learning Process

Along the way, I created a few tools, threw some away, wore many out, and changed my habits several times.  I'll probably continue doing that.  Early on, I thought small hand tools worked well, and I used a rotary tool mostly.  Then I shifted to a reciprocating carver.  It worked better with the wood, and it was much cleaner with less dust.  After a while, I learned to use hand carving tools--slower but with better control of my artistic expression.  Finally, I started creating my own tools as my original tools were too small, worn out, and sometimes ill suited for my style of carving.  Besides, new tools are expensive. 

Now, I use power tools that range from the rotary carving tools to routers, grinders, and chain saws.  With a piece of bandsaw blade, I create a few hand carving tools; sometimes they work better than a bought tool.  When they don't work, I replace the blade with a new tool.  By far the most requested information on the website is about a duplicator--a pantograph--that I created.  It's simpler than commercial models and most plans.  Simple works.

Styles of Carvings

I started carving with the intention of making some bookends--never got around to making any.  As I tried my new rotary tool and my new reciprocating carver, I went in a different direction. I soon learned I needed some more tools--we always need more tools!

Relief Carvings

As I was learning to use my rotary tool, I tried to create a simple relief carving.  While it wasn't very good, it wasn't very hard either.  It had promise.  Then I tried the reciprocating carver.  It was pretty neat.  I tried to make a cat's head, but it wound up as a holder for my rotary bits--it was awful.  I learned that I had never really looked at a cat's head and I had no idea of any proportions--just nose, ears, eyes.  Nothing fit.  I started paying more attention and carved a few simple relief carvings.  There's a few relief carvings of wolves, coyotes, water birds, and big horned sheep--my early carving targets.

Realistic Sculptures of People

I found it easier to work from photographs of people I had known.  Somehow knowing the people let some of their personality work through my carving process.  I also scoured magazines for "character" studies of people.  The lines in their faces and their expressions gave me a will to extract that personality from the wood.

Please take a look at some of the real people I have known whose likeness I have carved--like Gurtis and Alida, a retired blacksmith and a gentle housewife.

Bowls

While prowling our timber on the farm, I found a few trees with exciting wood--wood in crotches and wood in burls.  I soon acquired a mini-grinder with chainsaw teeth and a small electric chainsaw.  Out of this has come a number of hand-carved bowls.  (I tried using a lathe.  I like the free-form shapes better.)

Mantles and Wall Hangings

While these are technically just relief carvings, they are larger and constrained for a particular style of hanging and lighting.  In some of these, I learned to hide a deer behind tree leaves that are deeply undercut.  A single carving may have several relief designs along with wood burning to accent details.

Leaves of Wood

Some of the most fun carvings have been of tree leaves where I incorporated fractal elements in faces contained in the leaves. Carved from a thin butternut plank, these leaves capture the hidden personalities of autumn leaves.

Abstracted Familiar Images

Inspired by a photograph of a wood cutter's hands, I made the fingers longer and more surreal.  Perhaps they are the hands of a woman. Perhaps the slender fingers are those of a man--an artist forced into labor?  They are not the hands of a burly, hard working, typical wood cutter.