I have been asked why I like to carve Vikings.Well,I would have to go back to 1958 when my parents took me to a Viking museum in Copenhagen.In the midst of this all white room was this black hull of an ancient Viking ship.Something about it gripped my spirit and has intrigued me since that time.Also seeing a rusty Viking sword hanging on a wall behind glass sent my imagination whirling.To top all this off my father took my brother and I to see The Vikings starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis in 1959.Again,I was under the spell.
I grew up in those formidable pre-teen years thinking I should be a Viking,the Hollywood version of course.While everyone else was the Lone Ranger, I carried a club around.
My mother explained to me,as a youngster, that our ancestors descended from the ancient Viking settlement around Cork County Ireland.Thus my blond hair and blue eyes.Very possible I would think,however a large population within the British Isles can claim Viking descent, considering the Danish Vikings were living there for 200 plus years.However,I am certain that deep within me lies a strong thread of ancient Scandinavian DNA.
I've studied the early Scandinavian people from The Migration period,the conquests of the British Isles, the Rus Vikings of what is now Russia and The Varangian Guards of Byzantium.
Truly I cannot read enough history and through those books I have incorporated many images that I use in my carvings.Each carving I do reflects the Viking spirit as I see it.I am not finished until I see that Scandinavian spirit come to life.I combine a folk art approach with a somewhat historic design element capturing what I hope is a realistic expression of that adventurous, artistic Viking spirit.
Carving at my cabin at Hecla -Grindstone Park in the heart of the Manitoba Icelandic community on Lake Winnipeg is possibly the spark that ignited my passion. I'd carved lots of interesting things in the past including replica flintlock Kentucky rifles and pistols from the 18th c.I carved many of these to sell at flea markets in the Okanagan BC area. That was my only source of income for my wife Lorraine and two small boys.I also carved West coast Haida Raven masks that brought in a few dollars.
In the 70's I worked on the waterfront in Vancouver.One of our jobs was to construct enormous "camels"consisting of cedar logs and timbers. These were used to buffer the cruise ships away from the pier when docking.It was the size of the logs that impressed me and even at that time I knew I wanted to work on a larger scale.
So to the present,I now have enough material for several more Viking spirits and that should keep me busy well into 2008/2009.