Amesville, OH

Media: Wood

In the foothills of the Ohio Appalachian Mountains in Washington County, Ohio, I create handcrafted heritage woodcarvings based on my NC roots

I use traditional carving tools (gouges and carving knives) to bring to life one-of-a-kind wood spirits and country-themed figurines. My favorite part of carving comes with instilling personality and fun into my subjects. I especially enjoy the finish carving and detailing of my art. Most of my wood is obtained from local sawmills; however, occasionally, I’ll obtain it myself from forest falls on my land. I then work through the process of splitting sections into blocks, squaring and then reducing these blocks to blanks on my table saw, band saw or scroll saw. Next, I’m onto the roughing out then detailing and finishing of the finished pieces. The myriad of native woods lend themselves to rendering life to my carvings. My works and sculptures are normally first sealed with boiled linseed oil followed with several coats of polyurethane, an antiquing mix and a final protective wood wax. I integrate acrylic paints on objects dressed up. “Possessing the innate talent to turn a piece of wood into a work of art may be the dream of many retirees – but it has become reality for a Peachtree man who came home to his roots a few years ago.” Linda Miller, Staff writer, Cherokee Scout, Murphy, NC. My family and I now reside in Ohio. “Norman D. Stevens, of Storrs, CT, collects hand-made wooden spoons. His collection of 9\" spoons is expected to be the most comprehensive representative collection of the work of high-quality contemporary spoon makers from throughout the world. That collection will eventually total more than 150 spoons. Norman describes Johnny Hembree\'s North Carolina spalted Butternut spoon, which has a detailed carving of James, a \"gentle mountain man,\" at the top of the handle as \"one of the finest examples of integrating a detailed sculptural carving into a spoon\" in his collection.” Norman D. Spears. Contact Info: carverjohnny@gmail.com Organizations: Southern Highland Craft Guild (in Asheville) Webpage: http://www.southernhighlandguild.org/johnnycarver/