CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – Woodcarving is an art form that has a long history going back to the Stone Age.
So maybe we should whittle the story down a bit.
“You’ve got to take certain liberties, sometimes,” we heard Rod Gatlin say with a laugh, cutting up with his cohorts in the Charlotte Woodcarvers club.
The gregarious group gathers every Tuesday on the grounds of Carmel Presbyterian Church, leaving the door open for those who want to make art and make friends in the process.
If you meet a retired software man, and ex-chef, and a former casino worker in the same room, we figure it might be a good idea to pull up a chair and feel the fellowship.
“[Carving is] very relaxing,” Gatlin said. “It’s something you can do in your living room, or your workshop, or meetings like this.”
“So I Googled ‘woodcarving near me’ and ‘Woodcarving Charlotte’ came up,” explained Johnny Mayo.
The club started in 1982 and has 135 active members, including a few dozen women.
“Yep, woodcarvers are a great bunch,” Gatlin told Queen City News.
Many carve out their Tuesday schedules to spend hours together, working on carvings among friends.
“Probably a couple of hundred years’ worth of experience in here,” said Gatlin, who has been a member for two decades.
“There’s a lot of different kinds of woodcarving going on here. We have chip-carving, bird-carving, caricature-carving, and some of it we don’t know what it is, haha,” he said.
They’re already excited about the 42nd annual Showcase of Carvings, which is held is April 4-6 at the campus of Central Piedmont Community College. It will feature some 1,000 pieces.
You might say Mayo carves like a boss, or at least like someone who used to be a pit boss at a Mississippi casino.
Like a few others, he’s already knocking out a few Santas for next Christmas.
“Those are Hammer britches, right?” he says, comparing an St. Nick’s attire with an 80s rap icon. “I don’t know what you call them britches MC Hammer wore.”
He’s “2 Legit 2 Quit” this hobby and says “U Can’t Touch This” amount of support they get here, even it’s tough love.
They meet every Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Carmel’s Cathcart Center in south Charlotte.
“I feel all of us have an artist somewhere down inside of us, we like to make things pretty. When I got hold of [woodcarving], it wasn’t too pretty so I needed help,” said Mayo.
“You happy with [the carving]?” Gatlin asked Mayo.
“Yeah, I guess)” he replied, happy to receive guidance from a carving master.
“I’ve learned through life just to search people out who’s already done it,” said Mayo.
“Yeah, you want to get rid of these saw marks for one thing,” Gatlin advised. “I don’t care why you like them in there, they just need to come out ha ha.”
Former chef Vince Avalos used to make ice sculptures during his culinary career. More recently, the club helped him transition to delicate woodworking.
“These gentlemen, these ladies, will take you through every step of the process,” he said of the spirit of cooperation.
“We want to pass this on, some people call it a dying art,” Gatlin says.
College student Jane Negus represents the passing of the woodcarving torch.
“It’s very cathartic, I can just sit and carve and just relax,” says Negus.
The club meetings are also a chance to catch up with her grandmother, who initially suggested that her granddaughter join.
When folks are not staring intently at blocks of wood, they have each other in stitches.
“Good carving jokes ha ha,” Gatlin said, always game for a laugh.
“We all want to be part of a tribe,” says Mayo. “And this is a heck of a tribe to belong to.”
So bring your own bandages and let the chips fall where they may.
“It’s kind of a hidden treasure here,” Avalos said.
