Betty's Carving Blog

Hello today I will discuss using cotton wood bark for carving wood spirits.

I have carved many types of wood over the years and have found that I really prefer carving cotton wood bark when carving the wood spirit
If carving with cotton wood bark you should consider there are several types of cottonwood. I have found that plains cotton wood and black cottonwood has the best thickness for my carvings. You will be looking for a thick wide piece of bark.

You can purchase bark or search for your own by checking out online sales or local carving suppliers. If you collect the wood yourself, find a tree that is down and has been dead for a long period of time. You will want the bark dry, which is the best condition for carving.

When you purchase or find your own bark, you must wash the wood if it has dirt on the surface or in the cracks. If you do not wash and remove the dirt, you will dull or ruin your tools. Keep your bark outside and in a shaded dry area that is off the ground. Remember many bugs and spiders can come home with you if you are collecting the bark yourself.

You should check the bark from a side view to see if it has cracks. If it has cracks near the surface, you need to consider the placement of the carving in regards to the proximity of the crack. You can lose portions of your carving, usually the nose, when you have a hidden crack. I have glued many noses that have blown off when carving by placing a drop of glue under the nose and simply clamping the nose back into place. I wait for the glue to dry and start again.

Some of the cracks and crevices are a great addition to the carving. The bark simply talks to you when you pick up the bark and screams at you saying carve me. You can actually see the face you want to carve jumping from the bark. You can see where you want the beard to go and how the face should fade into the surface of the bark. Many of my carvings are on pieces of bark or wood that has a hole or knots that have been used to form the mouth.

I have found that the carving looks much better if I do not have bark that has been cut at ninety degrees across the top and bottom. I will twist, hit and stomp the bark to get the bark to break in a natural crevice. Using a hand planer on the back of the bark works well to make the bark rest flat on a wall. If planing on using the planer you should consider planing the bark before you have carved the Wood Spirit so as not to knock off part of the face as you plane the wood.
 Below is a picture of a piece of cotton wood bark being used to carve wood spirit.  This particular piece is being used for the profile wood spirit.

We now have the Internet where we can search and find wood, which makes it much easier for wood carvers