Artist Lets His Carvings Tell
THE BRUNSWICK-BEACON
THURSDAY. DECEMBER 20, 1990
The Story
r
BY SUSAN I'SI IKK
Walter Holt is a storyteller, hut in
stead of words he expresses him
self through wood.
He is a woodearver, with an eye for de
tailed workmanship and a gift fur capturing
emotions that range from the joy and won
der at the Christ child's birth to the tear ex
perienced when Mary and Joseph fled to
Egypt with their newborn son.
HolT started out painting in oils, but
learned quickly that the hobby wasn't com
patible w ith having small children about the
house. He couldn't leave his work out from
one day to the next.
He experimented with stained glass, met
al, stone, clay. He en- |
joyed them all, but j -. -
for a suitable wixxi in which to express it,"
he said.
Other times, though, the wood is inspira
tion for the work. "I may see a piccc of
wixxi and leave it silting there for a month
and find there's something inside it."
"With a lot of wood," he said, "you don't
know what it will be like until you start to
work with it."
Here in the South Brunswick Islands
good hardwoods are in limited supply, but
Hoff has built up a collection of pieces over
the years from which to choose. The woods
include purchases and gifts from friends
and fellow carvers.
Hoff and his wife. Fiat he I (Edie to her
friends), have owned
I property in the South
something was miss
ing. When he tried
wood, however, Hoff
knew immediately it
was his medium. He
discovered a natural af
finity for the wood and
its expressiveness?its
warmth of touch, work
ability, three-dimen
sional surface appear
ance and ageless quali
ties of beauty and
grace. It spoke to him
in ways he understood.
The three children
arc grown now with
families of their own,
but the carving tools
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Brunswick Islands for
15 years. They built
here eight years ago
when Hoff retired after
a 41 -year career with
IBM, where he had
been a program man
ager, securing long
term sources ol materi
als for new products.
That career was in
terrupted during World
'.Var II by a three-year
stint as an aviator and
trainer in the Army
Air Corps. Hoff never
saw overseas duty, but
the Long Island, N.Y.,
native did meet his
have not been packed photo conthbuted wife, at an air base in
away. THIS ANGEl. is carved in relief, Georgia. He was tcm
Hoff's father was a ideal for a wall hanging. porarily grounded for
very talented engraver six months while rc
who did highly detailed work. "1 may have covering from a collapsed lung; she was a
picked up a little from him. I don't know,"
modestly admits this talented, sell-taught
carver. "I like working with three dimen
sions."
While many of his pieces are in walnuts,
he's also worked with maple, pecan, ma
hogany, oak, tupclo, basswood and even
teak, though he finds its residue too oily.
Hoff says he prefers hardwoods to soft
woods, though both are suitable for carving.
"If I have an idea for a project then I look
civilian supply manager.
Hoff's work in various mediums can be
found throughout the home they share, from
the smiling gatekeeper overlooking the en
tranccway to die stained glass windows.
But the pieces that beg to be touched are
those he's created in wood, from the simple
heron in tupelo on oak legs and a walnut
base thai stands by the fireplace to the com
bination chess/storage table with its inlaid
top.
~ ~ -4
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
CHISEL ItX HANI), woodcarver Waller //off studies a wax model of his work in progress, Adam and h'.ve entwined with the
Serpent, before cutting into the rough wood block.
None of the work is lor sale: the prices
would be prohibitive given the ume invest
ed in each piece. Instead, he carves for the
pleasure of creating, in almost a celebration
of his faith, turning out only one or two
pieces a year.
His masterwork is a collection of intri
cately carved pieces in a variety of woods.
Hoff isn't certain what will become of the
individual pieces in the future, but he said.
"They are more interesting as a collection."
"Most have a story to tell," he says.
Those stories are inspired by the Bible, fa
miliar to readers of all ages: Samson tearing
down the temple, destroying his enemies as
well as himself; Jacob wrestling with an an
gel; the three holy children?Shadrach,
Mcshach and Abcd-nego, cast into the fur
nace by Nebuchadnezzar and delivered by
the angel Daniel; Jesus talking to Zaccheus,
the publican, who sits among the branches
of a finely detailed tree.
The two women at the well are literally
carved in the round of a column taken from
a choir loll in a Utica, N.Y., church that was
being torn down.
In one of Hoff's favorite pieces, a young
David plays his lyre for King Saul.
He likes the challenge of working in
wood, but is very aware of us limitations.
"That's one reason why I work so slowly, I
suppose," he said. "Once a cut is made you
can't take it back."
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
HIS EARLY "FLIGHT" portrays
Mary. Joseph and the newborn Jesus
fleeing from Kgypt. Hoff now prefers
a more natural finish instead of var
nish.
His touch is sure, but careful. "I take a
little bit i)l it oil, and then another little bit
of it off," he says.
Hoff uses tools that have changed little
since Biblical times?chisels, axes, knives,
saws and assorted smoothing instruments.
He works in several areas of his home?a
small studio area where he develops prelim
inary sketches and large gridded patterns for
each piece, and a workshop off the garage
equipped with hand and power tools and a
large workbench.
He strives to achieve accuracy ol detail,
down, lor example, to the way the sheep in
Behold cross their legs.
The National Geographic Society oblig
ingly sent photographs ol sheep, but all
their legs were hidden in tall grasses. Holt
said he finally went out and observed sheep
in a meadow, .is closely as the shy nervous
creatures would allow. "You do learn * lot
by doing this," he said of his avocation.
When working in the round he next step
is to create a three-dimensional model in
wax or clay from the drawings. In the work
shop. the basic outlines of the piece are
transferred io the carving block, disappear
ing as excess wood is cut away and the
form gradually emerges. Strings placed
around model and block at measured inter
vals help keep the work in proper propor
tion.
The results are spectacular, though some
times Holf wonders i! he includes loo much
detail, if cleaner lines wouldn't be better.
Maybe for some pieces, but never tor the
faces.
Fear, suffering, joy, peace?all are evi
dent in the attention he pays in shaping the
expressions of his subjects.
"1 try hard to achieve facial expression,"
says Holt humbly. "You know what >011
want but you usually don't achieve it. at
least in mv case."
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
SHEPHERDS hear the good news of Jesus' birth in "liehold".
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