Whittlers Carve Out Niches in a Hobby That’s Wooden

Say the word “woodcarving,” and the image that comes to mind is that of a group of old-time wiseacres whittlin’ and chewin’ the fat as they rock back and forth on rickety old chairs on the front porch of some small-town general store.

But Gary Perkins, a self-proclaimed woodcarving booster, thinks that stereotype goes against the grain, so to speak, of reality. In Southern California alone, more than 2,900 woodcarvers are affiliated with the California Carvers Guild. Perkins says the group is diverse, including men and women of all ages and professions. “Our youngest member is 10 and our oldest is 81,” he said.

This weekend, several guild chapters will meet to whittle en masse at Cal State Northridge. Non-carvers can sit with the experts and take a quick course, or meander through the displays. The handiwork on sale will range from elaborate duck decoys that Perkins says are so finely burned and painted they don’t even look like wood, to beautiful marquetry in which each color, like a puzzle, is one of several different cardboard-thin pieces of wood.

It was at a show much like this weekend’s that Perkins, a licensed psychiatric technician for the county’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Team, first encountered woodcarving. It took him about a year to actually inquire about the hobby, but once he picked up the carving knife it was love at first cut. In the last five years, he has been a member of the Reseda guild chapter, served as president of the West Covina chapter, and founded his own Glendale-area chapter, or as he calls it, the Smoky Hollow Chapter.

One characteristic associated with carving that attracted Perkins, who lives in Atwater, is patience. “The first thing people say when they see me whittling is, ‘Boy, that takes a lot of patience.’ But the reality,” he said, “is that carving doesn’t require patience, it gives you patience--it settles me down.”

He continued, “This might be another generality but I think carving is a hobby for people who are close to the earth--they’re more centered. And they’re generally friendly people.”

But, Perkins quickly adds, “that doesn’t mean there aren’t any nasty-tempered wood carvers around.”

The California Carver’s Guild Woodcarvers Benefit Expo takes place Saturday, Aug. 27, and Sunday, Aug. 28, on the north campus of Cal State Northridge from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call (818) 363-0420 for information.