ben carpenter: nature’s patterns brought out in wood sculpture

Thirty year old Ben Carpenter has been working with wood since childhood, and learned turning through an 8 year long mentorship with Jim Christiansen.

Guardian Comb, maple burl, ebony

Guardian Comb, front

Carpenter uses mostly salvaged maple, walnut, elm and black locust.

Leonid, black locust burl

Using lathes, chainsaws,and rotary carving tools to form the sculptures, he carves the wood when it is green and allows it to cure for several months before bringing out the details.

Ninja, elm burl

Warrior, elm burl

His deep interest in the patterns found in nature show up in the work. Cody Powell, a smoothing expert, adds the finishing touches in the final stage of creation. Really beautiful. . .I want to reach out and touch them.

Shell Bowl

Archaic Submarine, walnut, maple

 

I work with a variety of woods including maple, walnut, elm and black locust; 95% of it is salvaged. I do all my initial carving while the wood is green, then allow it to cure for many months. after the curing process, I return to the sculpture to bring out the details.

 

 

Ben Carpenter’s website
Cody Powell’s website