Woodcarvers’ featured carver

Larry Matney

Chris Pelikan is one of many accomplished woodcarvers in the PebbleCreek Woodcarvers Club. The picture shows Chris with a relief carving of the North Window formation in Arches National Park, Utah. The carving looks like a picture in a frame and is made from one piece of basswood. The top of the window formation is carved out on the backside and a light is installed into the top of the frame to illuminate the picture area and highlight the depth of the carving.

Chris completed this carving in November 2017. It took about 40 hours to carve and paint the piece. Basswood normally has very little grain so Chris created artificial grain when he painted the frame area.

Chris has been woodcarving since 1992 and has lived in PebbleCreek for about seven years. He teaches classes on relief carving which is a type of carving that starts with a flat surface then wood is removed to create the carving in relief.

The Woodcarvers Club meets in the Quail Room in the Creative Arts building on the Tuscany side of PebbleCreek. The club has general meetings on the second Tuesday each month at 9:00 a.m. from October to April. If you are interested in woodcarving stop by to see completed work and meet club members. Most members have had little or no experience carving prior to taking one of the club’s classes. Carving equipment is available for use during your first two classes to see if you like carving. So stop by the Quail Room and see what you can create from a block of wood.

The Woodcarving Club has the following carving classes scheduled for the 2017/2018 carving season. Contact Joel Hawkins via email at [email protected] for information on classes and updates to the schedule.

Chess Set: 9:00 a.m. to noon on M-W-F, January 8 through February 2; Northwest Helmet 9:00 a.m. to noon on M-W-F, February 5 through 28; Kachina 9:00 a.m. to noon on M-W-F, February 5 through 23; Trout 9:00 a.m. to noon on M-W-F, February 12 through March 9; Moon Mask 9:00 a.m. to noon on M-W-F, March 5 through 23; Cottonwood Bark 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on M-T-W-F, March 5 through 23