Post by Okwes on Apr 1, 2007 22:23:20 GMT -5
Woodworker's art a tribute to old days of Carlisle Barracks By Linda
Franz www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/16494739.htm
<http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/16494739.htm>
CARLISLE -- When the "heritage tree" at the Carlisle Barracks lost its
battle against age and illness in November, one post employee used its
demise as an opportunity to preserve its history.
Ed Otto, director of information technology, said he immediately thought
of carving the images of Indians onto pieces of the tree.
"Of all the trees on Carlisle Barracks I'd want to carve, this would be
the one," he said.
The European beech was located near Washington Hall, which was built in
1884 to serve as the hospital for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School
and later was converted into a dormitory for the school's athletes,
barracks spokeswoman Suzanne Reynolds said. A parade of American Indian
students attended the school from its opening in 1879 until it closed in
the summer of 1918.
Otto says Indian carvings were found on portions of the tree.
"I went through some of the Indian school books, and I could see the
tree," Otto said. "It was really neat."
It is thought the heritage tree was more than 220 years old when it was
taken down, beginning Nov. 14, for safety reasons.
A plaque in front of the tree said it was about 10 years old in 1794
when George Washington assembled 13,000 troops at Carlisle Barracks
before they marched westward to quell the Whiskey Rebellion.
"They kept the wood on post so people could take pieces of it," Otto
said. "As soon as the tree came down, it sort of begged doing an
Indian."
Otto was unsure whether the beech logs would be suitable for carving, so
he picked up a piece to try.
"I brought it in at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and had it done at 11
p.m. that night," he said.
That first Indian face has been joined by four others that are larger.
Otto inscribed a brief history of the tree on the top of each carving.
The larger images each take about 20 hours of carving plus more time for
research and finishing.
"Mostly what I do is all mallet and chisel," he said.
Because parts of the tree were very dry, he soaked the wood in water and
kept the pieces in plastic bags between carving sessions.
Once the carvings are done, he preserves them by saturating them with
Danish oils, stain and linseed oil.
"I want to seal in all that moisture so it dries slow," Otto said.
He colors portions of the carvings with oil paint mixed with stain.
Otto got his start in wood carving in 1993, when his brother sent him a
kit to make a dog and a boot. Shortly after, he took a wood carving
class on post under the direction of Bill Martin.
Since then, Otto has carved almost every day, because he finds it
relaxing.
"I take seminars from people all over the U.S.," he said. "You pick up a
little bit from everybody. Before you know it, you've got your own
style."
This year he took out the first Santas he carved.
"They're horrible," he said. "I thought they were great."
Now he calls them "little square Santas."
"Every piece you do gets better," he said.
Otto, who is from Cleveland, says one neat thing about being a carver in
Carlisle is that four carving groups meet in the area.
He belongs to the Conewago Carvers, a club in East Berlin and the West
Shore Wood Carvers, who meet in Mechanicsburg.
But he also meets informally once a week with about seven carvers in
Carlisle.
"What we get the most out of is our Tuesday night group," Otto said.
"We all carve different things. I tend to carve more Indians than
anything else."
Butternut and basswood are "kind of the standards" used in carving, he
said.
He also carves cottonwood bark, which he gets from a supplier in
Montana. Other carving wood "just kind of shows up," he said.
One of Otto's heritage tree Indians sits on his desk at Carlisle
Barracks.
Franz www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/16494739.htm
<http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/16494739.htm>
CARLISLE -- When the "heritage tree" at the Carlisle Barracks lost its
battle against age and illness in November, one post employee used its
demise as an opportunity to preserve its history.
Ed Otto, director of information technology, said he immediately thought
of carving the images of Indians onto pieces of the tree.
"Of all the trees on Carlisle Barracks I'd want to carve, this would be
the one," he said.
The European beech was located near Washington Hall, which was built in
1884 to serve as the hospital for the Carlisle Indian Industrial School
and later was converted into a dormitory for the school's athletes,
barracks spokeswoman Suzanne Reynolds said. A parade of American Indian
students attended the school from its opening in 1879 until it closed in
the summer of 1918.
Otto says Indian carvings were found on portions of the tree.
"I went through some of the Indian school books, and I could see the
tree," Otto said. "It was really neat."
It is thought the heritage tree was more than 220 years old when it was
taken down, beginning Nov. 14, for safety reasons.
A plaque in front of the tree said it was about 10 years old in 1794
when George Washington assembled 13,000 troops at Carlisle Barracks
before they marched westward to quell the Whiskey Rebellion.
"They kept the wood on post so people could take pieces of it," Otto
said. "As soon as the tree came down, it sort of begged doing an
Indian."
Otto was unsure whether the beech logs would be suitable for carving, so
he picked up a piece to try.
"I brought it in at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and had it done at 11
p.m. that night," he said.
That first Indian face has been joined by four others that are larger.
Otto inscribed a brief history of the tree on the top of each carving.
The larger images each take about 20 hours of carving plus more time for
research and finishing.
"Mostly what I do is all mallet and chisel," he said.
Because parts of the tree were very dry, he soaked the wood in water and
kept the pieces in plastic bags between carving sessions.
Once the carvings are done, he preserves them by saturating them with
Danish oils, stain and linseed oil.
"I want to seal in all that moisture so it dries slow," Otto said.
He colors portions of the carvings with oil paint mixed with stain.
Otto got his start in wood carving in 1993, when his brother sent him a
kit to make a dog and a boot. Shortly after, he took a wood carving
class on post under the direction of Bill Martin.
Since then, Otto has carved almost every day, because he finds it
relaxing.
"I take seminars from people all over the U.S.," he said. "You pick up a
little bit from everybody. Before you know it, you've got your own
style."
This year he took out the first Santas he carved.
"They're horrible," he said. "I thought they were great."
Now he calls them "little square Santas."
"Every piece you do gets better," he said.
Otto, who is from Cleveland, says one neat thing about being a carver in
Carlisle is that four carving groups meet in the area.
He belongs to the Conewago Carvers, a club in East Berlin and the West
Shore Wood Carvers, who meet in Mechanicsburg.
But he also meets informally once a week with about seven carvers in
Carlisle.
"What we get the most out of is our Tuesday night group," Otto said.
"We all carve different things. I tend to carve more Indians than
anything else."
Butternut and basswood are "kind of the standards" used in carving, he
said.
He also carves cottonwood bark, which he gets from a supplier in
Montana. Other carving wood "just kind of shows up," he said.
One of Otto's heritage tree Indians sits on his desk at Carlisle
Barracks.