Wood Carving Get's a Break -
Woodcarvers Should Thank the Environmental Movement
(I Guess)
By Matthew Welter
Lake Tahoe is a natural wonder unique to the planet. From its towering mountain peaks to the lake's still uncharted depth, Tahoe is truly a national treasure, despite those who control its growth.
I have recently been challenged in the heart and in the spirit. Do you think Lake Tahoe could host the finest collection if wood sculptors on earth? I believe it can because of what the environmental movement has done here. Stay with me and I'll explain.
It seems, sometime in the 60s, a bi-state agency was formed in order to maintain the lake's clarity; the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA). In common terms, the environmentalists took charge of everything from the color of houses to the design of toilets. In the process, they ran off the lumber industry which was maintaining the forest at its own expense. Like so many programs orchestrated from D.C. their focus was not only short sighted, but high and mighty. A terrible combination.
To the agency's credit, they saw to it that forest fires were snuffed immediately. They also, however neglected to maintain the forests surrounding this crystal clear lake. After all, cutting any trees was now classified as bad. The logging roads overgrew and the forest thickened, unbridled.
The late 80's ushered in a 6 year drought which left the forest's natural immune system lacking. Bark beetles exploited the weakness, dining on the cambium layer just beneath the bark of lots and lots of trees. Before the drought subsided, a third of our trees were dead, leaving the wood intact. Nature found a way to maintain its growth. These days there is a desperate (you guessed it) logging effort being supervised by the TRPA -- remember the TRPA? The people who brought us the dying forest to begin with? If you come to visit, please leave your matches behind! There are few roads left by which to salvage the standing, dead trees and cutting new roads is environmentally insensitive, but a forest fire is not.
O.K., speaking of high and mighty, help me down off my political high horse so I can tell you where I am going with this.
The fact is that Tahoe has attracted some of America's most affluent and influential citizens who have purchased 2nd and 3rd homes here. The lake's beauty has also encouraged the establishment of an up and coming international arts destination. I feel that Tahoe is destined to become a showcase for the finest performing and visual arts that humanity has to offer. The Tahoe Regional Arts Coalition is a bi-state alliance (Ca. and Nv.) of arts, businesses and civic leaders dedicated to implementing their newly adopted cultural plan outlining this lofty ambition.
For this reason, I have taken on a formidable challenge -- remember my challenge? To create the finest wood sculpture gallery in the world. And what better place than Lake Tahoe, one of nature's finest surviving works.
I believe wood sculpture will shortly be recognized as a supreme art form, and not just a notable craft.
I will confess to being a chronic art gallery/museum junkie. My idea of a satisfying vacation is to leave my companions behind while I gallery hop at a frenzied pace! It's shameful.
I have, I think, felt the pulse of the established arts community. My assumptions are confirmed every time a dumbfounded art enthusiast enters my Lake Tahoe gallery sporting a look that says, "Real sculptures! -- not reproductions? Is this legal!?" Indeed, art collectors have grown weary of galleries who sell names of "artists" which have never laid eyes on the work being sold. The concept of "limited editions" has been so muddied that such greats as Salvador Dali, Frederic Remington and Pablo Picasso are surely turning in their graves.
There is a need to return to something that cannot be faked, that must be created one piece at a time with devotion, and with love. A society experiencing a moral decline yearns for something of intrinsic value. As we go headlong into a technological civilization, I believe people will need the natural warmth of wood. Sweet smelling, beautiful wood, with real grain, real knots, and yes, a real check or two.
On the North Shore of Lake Tahoe resides my gallery, featuring the collected works of some very talented wood sculptors. Over seventy sculptor's works are shown seven days a week at "Timeless Sculptures". Although I am proud to handle a diverse range of mediums from wood to stone, bronze, clay and glass, my patrons are most responsive to wood sculptures. One reason may be the on-premises carving studio where carvers create table top to monumental works. Apprentices and visiting carvers likewise scurry about in hot pursuit of that elusive wooden wonder. Meanwhile, art enthusiasts from around the world look on, from behind glass partitions, delighted to witness the creative process.
The off-seasons are spent filling special orders from statuary to sculptured furniture. Upstairs, a team of marketers, designers and gallery representatives pursue leads gathered daily in the gallery. Many commissions are granted to artists whose works are represented in the gallery. In the years ahead I intend to handle fine wood sculptures exclusively.
Sound like fun? Wait until you hear about the "Outdoor Gallery" we are creating:
There is a highway that encircles the lake. Many of these dead trees are located in prominent places along that road. Timeless Sculptures is currently being called upon by many heartbroken home owners to carve their standing stumps into works of art. This has caused local tour companies to consider offering tours of the "Outdoor Gallery". See there, I really was going somewhere with this.
In addition, many of the dead trees are available free of charge to be carved into statuary and sculptured furniture (except for those on Forest Service land, because of TRPA regula... never mind). This has prompted some restaurants, lodges and ski resorts to commission welcome additions to the "Outdoor Gallery". What restaurant wouldn't want bus loads of hungry visitors to pile out, see the woodwork, and enjoy a hearty meal? Our marketing team has big plans for many of the dead trees at Lake Tahoe.
The tours will someday include a stop at the finest wood sculpture gallery in the world. There, visitors can rest at ease in the sculpture garden on a bench sculptured of roots, branches and slabs, while they enjoy the carving demonstration, complements of a visiting artist. Everyone is happy for any excuse to visit beautiful Lake Tahoe. They can purchase or commission some of the finest works of art to be had, or just revel in the creative atmosphere.
So you see... If we can make lemonade out of lemons then perhaps us wood carvers really should thank the environmentalists for endangering Tahoe's forest.
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Timeless Sculptures is currently seeking some of the most talented carvers to be had. Photographs can be submitted to:
Timeless Sculptures/ Matthew Welter/ (Owner/Sculptor/Political Know-it-All)
P.O. Box 1277 Kings Beach, CA 96143
Questions? Call (916) 546-8480
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Fine art from Timeless Sculptures:
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