When Shane Tweten is exposed to the wind at the top of a tree, chainsaw in hand, the elements may give him the idea for his next carving. Shane owns Greenscape Enterprises and is a BC Hydro certified utility arborist here on Bowen Island. He likes to use the wood he cuts down to create complex carvings depicting masks, celtic knot panels, Vikings and dragons.
Some of the masks on the walls in his Stands Tall Creations woodcarving studio and gallery at Artisan Square resemble the traditional north west coast native style. Others have a unique flavour of their own. When Tweten began carving under a native teacher about five years ago, he decided to follow his heart and let the carving take him in a different direction.
"The first year was a training and eye-opening time. It was about wrapping my mind about removing wood and 'seeing it' rather than adding it on like you would clay. After I did a couple of pieces, I got more confident in my carving ability and started to do things that nobody had taught me. I wanted to see how I would be as an intuitive carver."
Soon Tweten found that the products he was doing on his own time turned out better than the things he was instructed on. He found that with First Nation's masks, he was bound to tradition and how it was supposed to look - otherwise it wasn't considered true native art. "I did a wind mask, and that was the first one where I strayed [from formal design]," said Tweten. "Nobody had shown me how to do that and when I took it to my native teacher, he was blown away. Being on my own, the creative energy was and is just huge."
Tweten likes to have control in his business as well as his art. "Right now, I decide when I'm open or closed. I decide how much and what product to put out and I can accept commissions," he said. "I'm fortunate to be in this position. I am grateful that I have a daytime job that pays for this - it's not such a stressful starving artist syndrome. I've really got a good thing going."
His newest creation is a Wind Man mask. It started with a solid chunk of dawn redwood that had the appearance of a nice piece of firewood at first glance, bark and all. Tweten then explained what it was he saw in this piece of wood: the potential for his next mask. He pointed out the lack of knots and a nice clear grain. He had used a piece of this same wood before and had liked its interesting grain patterns and how compliant it was to work with.
He began by taking measurements and squaring it off, and doing half the design on transfer paper, drawing the design back on every time he carved something off, using the highest point for the nose and dropping everything else back. It looked painstaking, physical, intricate and demanded the use of many specialized tools that Tweten has neatly hung above his work bench at the back of his studio. Curls of sweet-smelling wood and sawdust covered the floor as he cradled in his lap what slowly started to resemble a face. He used an adze (resembling a sharp hoe) and a gouge that goes deeper, then a smaller gouge. Then he moved to hook knives as the piece progressed. "I'll do all the detail carving and finishing work when it's dry. If this was a hard block of wood and I tried to hollow it out, it would take forever. I was lucky and got very little splitting or cracking with this piece. It seemed to dry evenly which means I was successful in keeping the same thickness all the way around. I don't use a caliper, I just feel how thick it should be all the way around," he explained.
Tweten likes to do elements of nature that he can relate to and wind is a big one. "I climb in trees - and when a big windstorm comes, I'm busy at work," he said. "Wind plays an important role in my life. I like linking it with the environment. That's why I do a lot of leaf faces or green men. The other side is the Viking or the dragon. I love the idea of creating something from wood and bringing it back to life."
The Wind Man took form over a couple of weeks, the final steps included painting, oiling and waxing. The wood soaked up the canola oil which brought out the colours and grains as well as the different layers of acrylic wash. After about 10 minutes of absorption, Tweten sealed in all the moisture he just added by coating it with wax. "As you're working the piece, it starts telling you what to do because you want it to look it a certain way - proportionate, aesthetically pleasing," he explained. "When I finish a piece and then come back to it the next morning, it opens my eyes to all the little things I maybe didn't notice the night before, maybe because I was tired. I've rushed before with applying the oil too soon and it smeared the paint - you learn by those mistakes." When he finally hangs the Wind Man on the wall, he'll sit down and have a glass of wine, have a good look at it and enjoy it. It could be gone the next day.
His motto? "Don't put anything out there that you're not happy with - it's your statement, your business card." He'll ask his wife Jules for her opinion and constructive criticism saying that he has been staring at it so long, he needs an objective opinion. And at the end of the day, when people come in and praise his art, it may not pay the rent but it's gratifying to hear. "I really like that people are drawn to different pieces for different reasons. You hear what they like about it and it's feel-good stuff. I'm pretty happy."
For more information and to see photos of Tweten's work, visit www.standstallcreations.ca.
For the real deal and to see the Wind Man, drop in at Stands Tall Creations at Artisan Square. If you're lucky, catch a glimpse of him breathing life into a piece of wood.
Janis Treleaven
