From the hands of Gary Burns in his Etsy shop named TreeWizWoodCarvings come amazing objects. I wanted to share this shop with you because once again this is a shop that made me pause and think "Now THIS is what etsy is supposed to be about." This handcrafted shop is a Star Seller and was one long before someone at etsy HQ got a high five for making up the stupid program.
I will let you read Gary's own story in his words from the shop.
I love Wood Carving. I carve Wooden Hearts, Wood Spirits, Tree Carvings, Wood Anniversary Gifts, Wedding Gifts, Birthday Gifts and Abstract Sculptures. I am a self taught wood carver, carving since 1971. I started carving while I was putting myself through college living in Auburn, California were I worked at the towns Recreation Department. I was going to college at Sierra College at the time. I saw a jig saw in a "Fingerhut" mail order catalog. I had never used a power tool before but thought that I could invest in this tool and maybe make Christmas gifts for my friends and family that I couldn't afford to buy. The saw was $19.99. It was a lot of money at the time. I felt I could make all of the gifts that I needed using some boards that I had found when I moved into the place I was renting if I bought this saw. I also invested in a little gouge and chisel set for $1.99.
That year I got so much enjoyment out of making those gifts. One of the first things I made was a branched tree within a frame that I gave to my parents that Christmas. From that year on I would think of what I might make for the next Christmas and then in the early Fall I would start to work, carving in the little bit of free time I had, working full time and going to school full time. It was such a wonderful thing to be doing. I had no examples as hand made things weren't a part of my existence up to that time. So each new thing I learned came straight from my heart and still does to this day.
I graduated from Sierra College in 1970 and then Sacramento State College in 1973. I worked in the Activity Planning Dept. at a huge resort called Sea Pines Plantation Co. on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina; an assistant director in a club house for a large adult community in Palo Alto, California; an assistant manager of a dry docked luxury liner turned into a bar and dinner house in Kodiak, Alaska; and a production manager for a small electronic manufacturing co. in Roseville, California. For those first years out of college I dreamed of perhaps being a wood carver full time and working for myself. I just didn't know were or how to start.
I was laid off from the electronic manufacturing co. in February of 1978. Business had gotten slow and the owners were going to restructure and my job wouldn't exist anymore. I began collecting unemployment and as I started looking for another job I realized that this could be my opportunity to try my hand at wood carving full time. Well, I became nearly addicted to making sawdust. I shared an apartment with a friend and set up shop in my bedroom. I had such understanding neighbors and a great room mate. I started finding new tools and ever so slowly acquired new skills. I was very self conscious of my work at first, as I should have been. The first pieces were very crude and very hard to sell. I had no sales skills or real carving skills. I remember laying on my bed one day in that apartment bedroom taking a break. I felt sort of lost at the time and then thought how if I had put myself through college, something that I didn't enjoy at all, I should be able to make a living at wood carving. I just needed to stick with it and carve for my life. I could see that I was learning. I moved around a lot in those first years of carving and met some great people. The people I met led to some great adventures.
I spent 8 months carving near Capetown, South Africa with some South African friends I had met at a craft show in California. And I carved and carved and learned so many things in those years.
Then in 1983 I moved to June Lake, California. It is a small village on the east side of the Sierras in California. It had a charming community of 600 people that I fell in love with immediately. I had a son, Cody, with Sallee there and we opened the Tree Wizard Gallery that we ran for 16 years. Sallee and I were together for 17 years and we had some good and some hard times. In the end we needed to part ways. All that time I was very involved with the community joining many of the organizations. I was on the board for the Chamber of Commerce, in the Lions Club, President of two different Arts and Crafts Guilds, and 11 and a half years on the June Lake Fire Dept. that I left being the assistant Fire Chief which I loved dearly. Living at 7700 foot elevation was an amazing experience and made for many challenges and many close relationships. That was a very rewarding time in my life.
My son Cody graduated high school in 2003 and the two of us moved to Cave Junction, Oregon. I helped a friend with his Burl business there and had a lot of fun creating fun things for It's a Burl, the name of his business. In 2008 I met my current partner, Susan. She is amazing in many ways!! I started selling on etsy in Oct. of 2009. For several years I sold everything I made on etsy.
In February of 2016, Susan and I moved to Port Orford, Oregon. Sweet little village on the Southern Oregon coast. We had a shop fire in July of 2016 and are just finishing the new shop/gallery that we hope to be in by the end of August 2017. So my carvings will be for sale there soon.
LIFE IS GOOD!!
So many heart shapes in the shop. All different and all so lovely.
You can find a bit of whimsy too.
Remember these hands
and this man
made all the beauty you see here today and much more.
I'll be here when you are done to read your comments.
Back with more again soon. Take care and stay cozy!
