Whittlin' Wayne

South Haven carver creates art whittle by whittle

By Karen Flaten

“It’s like a gift shop,” said Nancy, Wayne Nicoloff’s wife, pointing to the living room area of their South Haven house. She was not wrong. The living room and adjacent areas of the house were filled with carved wooden figures – on shelves, on side tables, coffee tables, and – especially the larger carvings – hanging on the walls as one might hang a painting.

Wayne Nicoloff of South Haven with a few of his carved diamond willow walking sticks.  Wayne has been carving  for more than 30 years. Contributed photo

There are examples of Bark Carving, Caricature Carving, and Scandinavian Flat Plane Carving. Low Relief Carving panels hung on the south wall, one of which portrays a lake scene and includes a small scene of Wayne and Nancy’s house.

Wayne showed some of his favorites – especially the caricatures he has carved. “The Aviator” is a small carving topping a wine stopper that is a caricature of a pilot, wearing aviator glasses atop his head. A scarf with the words “NWA” and “Delta” printed on it is part of his outfit. The pilot looks a little rough around the edges, perhaps a bit inebriated. “My wife used to work for the airlines,” said Wayne, acknowledging the tongue-in-cheek commentary about airline pilots.

Another caricature, “Corky’s,” is an impression of some of the bikers he has seen at a nearby bar. The bearded, bandana-wearing biker holds a beer can in his hand, and has the look of a rogue in his eyes.

There are several Santa carvings, small and large. “I’m pretty good at Santas,” admitted Wayne. “That’s why there are so many.” Several small carvings of Santa faces are ornaments that Wayne plans to give to nieces and nephews – perhaps adding the ornaments to the wrapping of a larger gift.

Wayne carved this piece which shows a caricature of bikers seen at a local bar. Photo by Karen Flaten

One large carved Santa face hangs on a wall. “This one is an example of ‘Power Carving,’” said Wayne. Since this is a larger piece, the carver uses a power chisel to do a lot of the work, although the detail work is done by hand. Wayne turns the Santa over to show the hollowed out back. “This is done to lighten the piece,” he said, “to make it easier to work with and not so heavy.”

“You only really need one or two knives,” said Wayne, “especially when you are just starting out. “But then as you continue carving, you see tools you like, or that might work better on a certain piece – or maybe one guy has a certain tool, so you buy another.” His full toolbox shows the nickname he has had for years, “Whittlin’ Wayne,” or sometimes “Whittle Wayne.”

A small jewelry box made for his wife features a carved teddy bear holding a heart and a lid that opens on a swivel. A hollowed out area is lined with a soft felted material where the jewelry can nestle. The geometric pattern adorning the wooden lid on a glass jar is an example of Chip Carving. “On these, a pattern is transferred onto the project, and a smaller tool is used to chip out pieces of wood to make the pattern,” explained Wayne.

Four small Santa faces that can be turned into ornaments were carved by Wayne. Photo by Karen Flaten

Wayne has been carving since the 1990s – at least 30 years, he said. He started out taking a class “just for something to do in the winter... I was getting a little bored,” he said.  Soon it became a hobby that Wayne enjoyed year-round. “It’s fun – and it’s fun meeting the other carvers!” Over the years, Wayne has met many other carvers in classes and at various events. He cherishes their work as well, displaying it on his walls, and pointing out the interesting techniques used.

 A photo of Wayne’s father, who was a cobbler. Contributed photo

“This one,” he said, taking a Bark Carving off the wall, “was a gift from Rich Wetherbee – a big name in the carving world.” Wayne explained that Rich travels around the country, teaching woodcarving. The carving is the face of a bearded man, carved into a piece of wood. The bark on the wood is still intact, and frames the carved face.

Rich is also Wayne’s mentor for caricature carving. Wayne enthusiastically showed a couple of caricatures that Rich had carved, as well as a version Wayne tried with Rich’s instruction. Wayne loves caricatures, as he doesn’t think of himself as an artist. “With caricatures, you have more room to make them the way you want to,” he explained.

A clay sculpture of his father. Making a clay sculpture and then carving out a matching sculpture is one technique that can be used in wood carving. This clay sculpture was made by Rich Wetherbee, one of Wayne’s mentors. Contributed photo

Most of the carvings are based on a pattern or another carving. Wayne focused on the way that carvers can use a “duplicator” or duplicating router to create a “roughout” to start from when beginning a carving. Using one carving as a pattern, the duplicating router copies the original to a certain extent, removing some of the wood from a new block of wood, so that the piece is ready for the hand carving to be done by the woodcarver.

Wayne also talked about another technique that woodcarvers can use to get started with a piece. Bringing out a photo of his father, Wayne mentioned Rich again. The teacher and professional woodcarver made a clay sculpture based on the photo of Wayne’s father, who had been a cobbler by trade. The clay sculpture could then be used as the design or pattern for a wood carving.  Bringing out another clay sculpture of a man in a boat, Wayne said, “This one is called ‘Grumpy Old Men.’  Rich Wetherbee called it ‘Walter Matthau,’” said Wayne, mentioning one of the stars of the popular film. The plan is to use the clay sculpture as the basis for creating a woodcarving reminiscent of the Walter Matthau character.

One of Wayne’s chip carvings. Photo by Karen Flaten

“There are so many options for woodcarvers,” Wayne says. “Have you heard of diamond willow? It is great for walking sticks!” Wayne pulled out three pieces of diamond willow – one piece showing the “rough” willow, as it would have looked in the woods, one with the bark peeled off, showing the diamond design, and a finished piece with a carving of an old man’s head near the top of the stick. “Diamond willows can be found in the woods not too far from here,” said Wayne. A friend and fellow-woodcarver showed Wayne an area in some woods near Watkins where Diamond willows can be found.

Speaking of scrap pieces leftover from making walking sticks, Wayne said, “Most guys would just cut off the ends and throw them in the fire, but I found that I could use the cut off pieces to make handles for other things.” Wayne showed his handcrafted marshmallow/weenie roaster with a beautiful handle made of Diamond willow.

Not only does Wayne carve with a knife, he also carves out knife handles... like these two. Contribute photo

Wayne’s passion for woodcarving came out as he displayed some of his creations and talked about the Central Minnesota Woodcarvers. Wayne has been president of the group for the last three years. He is also in charge of the SnoDaze Woodcarving Rally which took place at the Sartell Community Center at the end of April. This year the event offered 15 classes for woodcarvers, taught by professional woodcarvers from across the country. There were also vendors who sold knives and other tools, specialty wood, and other items woodcarvers may want or need. It is meant to be a time when woodcarvers can get together, practice carving techniques, and learn from each other.