Jude's Page

September 2002

Recently brother Larry & wife Laura held a graduation party for their son, Ben. (Congratulations, Ben!) The party was great! That evening Larry showed Jude some of his incredible wood creations.

Above left is a crucifix Larry carved for Laura. It is carved from one piece of wood. The figure is part of that piece. It was NOT cut separately then stuck on. Beautiful!

Above right, Larry talks to Dave Dohle, guitarist from Ben's old band "Legacy" and now a member of the band "Drawpointe", about how he plans and creates his walking sticks.
Above are all the walking sticks Larry has carved so far, layed out left to right in order of their creation. The month and year the stick was finished is carved into each stick.
Above is "Voodoo", the first stick he carved. It was created in 1994. This one took Larry only 2 weeks to carve. He actually used it for a walking stick for awhile. He doesn't know what kind of wood it is. It wasn't until 4 years later that he started his second stick. Larry said he never set out to carve walking sticks but just started doing it. He lets the wood itself suggest to him what shape it should take.
Above is the second stick Larry carved.He calls it "St Michael." It is made of mimosa wood. This one took the longest to carve: two years off and on. The stick was finished in January 2001. Larry said the design was inspired by the angel that appears in the comic strip "Rose Is Rose" as Pasquale's guardian angel when he grows large to protect Pasquale. Larry said the wood started to split at the top, behind the angel's head. Rather than patching it, he incorporated the split into the design, and there carved the space between the back of the angel's head and his wings. A snake coils around the length of the stick. It is a beauty!

Larry's third stick is called "Sirius", the Dog Star or the Moon-Sun Star. This star gives its name to the "dog days" of summer. It is said that Sirius rises with the sun in the summer, causing the excessive heat. The stick is made of locust wood and was completed December 2000.

Larry said that to make sure the lines that compose the diamond shapes around the stick were placed evenly, he wrapped string around the stick in two directions and marked where the strings fell.

The blue color outlining the diamonds is nearly iridescent.

Larry said he usually works on the sticks during his lunch hour at work, or approximately 5 hours per week. When he goes out of town, he brings the current stick and works on it in his motel room in his spare time. He usually doesn't have time on the weekends to carve.
Although they are all beautiful, this one, called "Fish Stick", was one of Jude's favorites. Larry said the fish are all realistic Missouri River fish, carved and painted with details correct. The bottom of the stick shows the colorful pebbles of the river bottom, the top reflects the blue sky above. This stick is made of cottonwood and took Larry 7 months to complete. It was finished in July 2001.

"Earthworm" or "Big Giant Worm", as this stick is called, was another of Jude's favorites. Larry finished it in September, 2001.

Larry said he is always scouting for potential sticks any where there are piles of cut branches. He says that right now he has enough wood in his basement to last him until 2006.

The first step in the preparation of the wood is curing. This process involves sealing the ends with wax or Larry uses polyurethane, then allowing the wood to dry with the bark on for about one year. The wood will crack as it dries and will ruin the artwork if he carves before it is dried.

After curing, the bark is stripped from the wood and it is sanded. Then the carving is done. When carving is finished the stick is painted using mostly water-based acrylic paints. Finally the stick is covered with two coats of "Stays Clear", a water-based high gloss polyurethane. .

The above stick is called "Purgatory." At the top is a cloud representing heaven. At the bottom are the flames of hell. In between is purgatory. Larry said he learns something new with each stick he makes. This one was for him a study in faces.
"Ants" is his most recent stick. It was completed in May, 2002. Like all of Larry's sticks, this one was carved from one piece of wood. The ants were NOT cut out separately and stuck on. Larry said that he used "wood petrifier" on the ant legs, which were very thin and delicate. Wood petrifier is a liquid adhesive that makes the wood stronger. He uses it where the wood is weak, as were the ant legs and the fins and tails of the fish on "Fish Stick." The ant at the bottom of the stick is carved as though it is crawling out of a hole in the stick itself. The last ant at the top of the stick is crawling back into the stick. Amazing!

Larry has just begun to carve this curly rattlesnake skeleton stick. Already it looks very cool!

Larry said he usually starts the next stick before the previous one is completely finished. When he gets ideas for new sticks he diagrams them on paper. He said his next stick will probably be Freight Train. Ideas for future sticks include: Snowmen, Ghosts, Jack O'Lanterns, Wizard of Oz, King Tut, and Mushrooms, which will include a carved swirly psychedelic background.

So far Larry has only used hand tools, no power tools, to carve his sticks. He is considering trying some small power tools in the future.

Thanks for showing us your sticks and keep up the great work, Larry!

To send Larry a message click here.

To see Jude's Page Archives click here.
To see Pat's 2002-2003 School Year Page click here.
To see Pete's Page click here.
To see Instant Iguana's Page click here.


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