Hello and Welcome
My name is José. I became interested in
woodcarving many years ago, however it was not
until I had reached my late teens that I finally got a
chance to work with wood and handle real carving
tools. My hardheaded character and subject
preference in carving afforded me little option but "
to carve my own path" I learned by trial and error.
Several members of my extensive family are or
were skilled artist who played a role in my artistic
interest in one way or another. None, however,
played a direct role -teach you how- approach.
I explored pencil and charcoal drawing, oil, acrylic
and watercolour mediums. I painted school murals
and joined a State sponsored Artisan group before
high school graduation. College, however, was a
transition which precluded any artistic endeavor on
my part, as it "consumed" my energy and stunted
my artistic pursuits.
During my 30's I met and befriended a fellow bird
carver named Elpidio Collazo, who had established
himself as a Master Bird woodcarver. We shared
interests, exchanged views, reference materials
and technical advise. Elpidio has passed away
leaving behind a legacy of endemic bird wood
carvings now cherished by many collectors in the
Island of Puerto Rico and beyond.
Naturally, without formal training, my early works
where crude representations that showed my
impatient nature. Nevertheless, those first carvings
represented an accomplishment to me. I had
undertaken a complex task without a hint of
direction from anyone and ignoring all negative
remarks about my work. I had created my own
"Bird of Wood" or "Pájaro de Palo" using only my
hands to push tools into very hard woods, using
memory pictures as reference.
As life goes, I was determined to get to work in the
field of wildlife biology or animal behavior, so I
could work in the recovery of an endangered local
parrot. I had earned a Biology degree and being
Ornithology (Science that study birds) the field of
study that was most interesting to me, I looked for
any opportunity to get to do something related to
birds, even if that was to clean after them.
For 11 years a dedicated team and myself as flock
manager, developed and successfully brought
together a promising breeding captive flock of a
highly endangered parrot in a remote part of a
Caribbean Island forest. Task accomplished, I set
new goals and left job permanence and the
security of a paycheck for self-employed pursuits
to grow and expand my other creative life
objectives, Art and Design.
I have attended and entered my work in only a few
carving competitions and have been selected
amongst the top ribbon earners in my entry level,
that includes the Ward Wildfowl Carving
Competition held in Ocean City, Maryland,
however, I am not interested in carving for the sole
purpose of entering competitions, as I am not
willing to change my ways in order to meet the
current trends in judgement criteria. I like to make
wood carvings that look like wood carvings, but still
show the grace and essence of the subject.
My work has been reviewed and successfully
judged by the Tamarack Foundation of West
Virginia. I reside with my wife Anne in the beautiful
town of Green Bank, located in Pocahontas
County, West Virginia. This is the place I call
Home.
José
| My first attempt at woodcarving something I considered really difficult was in 1975, I was then 15. It is made from a solid round of Mahogany. Using only chisels, I carved this crude representation of a parrot. It measures 14" or so from head to tail. |
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| The picture above shows a carving I made sometime around 1976, I was then 16 and still in High school. I had joined the Commonwealth sponsored Artisan group, and so I got to participate in several artisan fairs. The carving is made out of Tropical Mahogany as well. |
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