Students learn art of carving from local artist

Keeping students on task is especially challenging at the end of a school year with only a couple of weeks remaining, said Plains High School art teacher Kristen Cole, but she said that her guest artist was able to really get them motivated for their final project of the year.

Tom Collins judges people while wearing a black robe and pounding his courtroom gavel three days a week in Plains, Thompson Falls and Hot Springs, but for the last the last two weeks, he's been judging the artistic skills of the students in the Plains High School 3-D art class by having them carve a head from a block of wood.

"I feel the students did well, very attentive and willing to ask questions, and ask for help," said Collins, who heads the Plains Wood Carving Club. He has given lessons to other groups in the past and helps other carvers in the club, but this is his first time to teach at Plains School.

Eight students from freshman to senior carved a six-inch tall bust of a man from a piece of basswood, one of the more softer woods to carve. Collins spent nearly an hour in the class three days a week for two weeks showing them how to make a realistic face and head using only a basic carving knife. None of the students had any formal carving lessons, though a couple of them had toyed a little with whittling. Sophomore Alexander Horodyski had made three walking sticks, but he had never tried a face. Even Cole, who has done numerous art mediums in her 26 years as a teacher, has done very little carving.

"I just whittled with one knife a little, but I've never done it at this level," said Cole. "Tom has really taught us a lot in the last two weeks," she said. This was the first time to have Collins give a carving class, but the late John Meckler had given classes for about 12 years, teaching the students how to carve a spoon and a gnome, which Cole said sometimes turned into a Santa Claus.

It was a first time at carving for senior Adelle Ercanbrack, who said she had been looking forward to Collins' carving class and might go to the club meetings during the summer. This is Hailee Steinebach's fourth year of taking Coles art classes. She had never carved, but was having fun doing her first piece. "It's hard when you're starting out because you have very little control of the knife, but gets easier as you go," said the senior, who also would like to look into the club. Steinebach deviated slightly from the models and added dimples to her carving. She's also thinking about joining the carving club.

To help illustrate the process, Collins had seven models showing the different stages of the carved head, which Cole said was extremely helpful. He gave the students a "rough out" head mold that had a basic outline of the head and face and a handout with step by step instruction. He also showed several examples of carved pieces on the first day. The school had the carving knives, but Collins had to sharpen them. He gave group and individual instruction as the project progressed. He also had a "basket of heads" with different expressions and accessories, like beards, hats and glasses to show as examples. He said the eyes were probably the toughest part of making a face. He showed them how to use a gouge tool at one point to make the nostrils. "The human face is one of the hardest things to carve well," said Collins, who took home three red ribbons in the expert class at the Montana State Wood Carvers Show earlier this month. Collins said he just gave them the basics. "Practice always makes improvements, but gaining instruction makes practice more effective," he said.

He first got interested in carving as a boy when his grandfather carved him a willow limb whistle. Collins took a night class put on by Meckler 11 years ago and got hooked. Since then he's won several awards and for the last six years, he's been the main coordinator of the Montana State Wood Carvers Show in Missoula. He enjoyed teaching the high school students and he especially liked passing on his appreciation of carving. "I think teaching is very related to passion, passion to see people learn and passion to learn," said the Plains resident. He also hoped that maybe some of them would join the local wood carving club, which meets Tuesday evenings in the VFW hall.

The four girls and four boys all finished their pieces last Monday. "The finished product was impressive, especially with only a few days and being their first carving," said Cole, who hadn't yet finished her piece because she had to also attend to students' needs. Cole has carved a little, but it was self taught. "I'd rather bring in someone who's an expert at it, like Tom," said Cole. She said she'd like to try her hand at carving a fish because she and her husband, Mike, enjoy fishing on the Clark Fork River and she'd like to make it as a gift to him. She added that she might look into attending some of the club meetings.

Cole teaches mostly one dimensional art, but has a three dimensional art class, where the students have made art from ceramic, multi media, plaster, and tape sculpture, which were life-sized objects using their own bodies for the forms. She hadn't had a carving project for about four years.

Carving from wood can be a little more difficult, she said, because it's subtractive art, which means the students are taking away parts and can't put something back if it's cut out. "It's definitely a problem solving situation," said Cole. She noticed that her students slowed down and got more patient as the project progressed. "We had a couple bloody fingers in the first couple days," said Cole. Within a few days, four of the students were using carving gloves.

Cole said the students enjoyed getting the wood carving instruction. "It definitely gives them a new appreciation for another art form," said Cole. She was pleased to see the progress as the class continued and believes there's some real talent in her students. "This is also my class that showed perseverance through all assignments this year, even through tough projects," said Cole. She'd like to have Collins back again next year and he said he'd be happy to do it again, although she'd like for the students to have more time on the project next time.