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Uncle Steve’s Totems
Uncle Steve started his artistic career back in the 1980’s as a folk
musician, busking on the streets of St. Louis, Pittsburgh and in
Morgantown, West Virginia. He earned a Regents Bachelors of Arts Degree from
West Virginia University, graduating in 2000 with the first class of the
new millennium.
His foray into the visual arts includes a host of collage art that have
graced the walls of his residences for over 25 years, and which he
still creates from time to time. His palette also includes a full slate of
houses that he painted inside and out and any number of dining rooms
and banquet halls where he created delightful edible displays as a cook
and caterer.
Uncle Steve then began painting folk art on roofing slate, saw blades
and ply wood scraps, many of which were leftover from the various
maintenance and construction jobs that he held over the previous twenty
years.
It wasn’t until 2002 that Uncle Steve started to really think seriously
about carving totem poles. His good friend had a totem pole at the end
of the driveway that had rotted and fell over, which Uncle Steve
reset. Then it rotted and fell over again. Instead of letting it go
completely to waste, Uncle Steve thought it could be repaired. At the same
time there were about 20 trees cut down on the property, many of which
just happened to look perfect for totem pole material.
While he began hand carving the first totem, even hitting his hands
with the hammer more frequently that he was comfortable with, Uncle Steve
found that he simply could not stop laughing, carving totem poles was
that much fun. The feeling he describes about carving totem poles is the
same timelessness that one experiences for example when playing music.
Uncles Steve lets the spirits guide him toward the outcome of each
unique totem pole. His first carved totem pole started with the spirit
figure of a bird, an icon used to represent trickster. That first totem
pole is also the only one he has painted so far. A series of pictures of
that totem are available for you to view on this web
site.
These totems are all hand carved with Hammer and Chisel. What he finds
is the grain of the wood that is exposed in the process of carving are
further accented by finishing touch of sanding each piece to a smooth
finish. The result turns each totem into a remarkably beautiful
creation. Pictures of several of these totem poles are on this website.
Charleston, West Virginia |
