The Chronicles of Wise Owl Joinery > Chipping Away newsletter article, 1997
by Richard Cormier, Guest Columnist
Richard Cormier of Minden Ontario (for the time being... you'll soon find out that this guy gets around the country) has been one of our more 'eager' students. He's one of those fellows who knows what he wants to do, and does it... in this case incorporating chip carving designs into his profession of building log and timber frame homes. You may have difficulty meeting a more friendly and personable fellow too, although our Chipping Away family of carvers sure does seem to attract the ‘nicest people in the world’! With his warm wit and a true gift of gab Richard is a regular event in himself at our Kitchener Open House parties, almost always bringing some very unique and creative projects by as well as photos of other works.
[Note: we've illustrated this article with photos of Richard's chip carving which were not in the original. See more on the Chip Carving page.]
Funny how some things in life turn out. It was the winter of 1990-01
in Salmon Run British Columbia. I was log building full time
but wanted to take a winter course of some sort to add something for
the interiors of these structures. A tole painting class came
up and I thought decorative painting on mantle pieces would create
a nice centre piece for the great room, recreation room, etc.. The
course ran one night a week for six weeks. There were six of
us altogether including Ed Schmidt who was 60 years young then … never
too old to learn. During the third week we were all to bring something
of interest to show the others and Ed brought in the most beautiful
Bible box. It was chip carved around all four sides as well as
the top and finished in a brown mahogany gel stain. I was already
hooked! I finished the tole painting classes and then took a class
with Ed and made three of these large Bible boxes. Ed was a good
teacher. Believe it or not these boxes were all carved with a non retractable
Stanley utility knife! Of course now I have Moor knives and quicker
methods of putting the drawing onto wood.
I guess I have never been satisfied as a craftsman just to build the
log shell of a house. As life progressed my wife and I moved
to Ontario in 1994 where I went full time timber framing. This style
of building really leant itself to the art of chip carving, and soon
it was a standard for me to chip carve the date as well as foliage,
pinecones, names etc., into every frame. Most of the time it
was a surprise for the client, and pleased they were. I
remember once carving a hummingbird hovering beside the date at the
entry of a home, but one of the most memorable carvings was on a trip
to our home province of Nova Scotia during the summer of 1997. We
always stop in Perth Andover New Brunswick to see my log building friend
Garth. 
It was Father’s Day and he was dismantling a log
house for clients in Yarmouth Nova Scotia. It just so happened
that I had my knives and a few patterns with me, and as luck would
have it the house was only a third taken apart, with all the header
logs for doors and windows still in place. At the main entry
door I proposed to do a carving of two chipmunks, facing one another
on a tree branch, so while the log was on the building I marked out
a slab that would be cut once on the ground. 
I took the chainsaw
and cut a nice sweep with a flat spot in the centre, then smoothed
the surface nicely with a small disc sander. Next I applied the
pattern and began Chipping Away. Garth had some of the stain
that would be going on the entire house so I gave a good dose of this
on the carving right away, knowing that the June sun would play havoc
with the carving. We covered it well with cardboard for the transportation
and I joined up Garth a couple of weeks later at the job site in Nova
Scotia to do some final work on the house. We met with the clients
and they were very excited about the chipmunks.
I’ve always been a firm believer that the small things in life
make a big difference. Small details like I’ve described are
what makes log and timber frame homes so unique and a place where craftsmen
can really shine. One can create themes throughout the house,
really making it a unique place. Chip carving in these homes
can really distinguish one company from another in a hurry in this
fast paced world where factory production is the norm. Details
are what will keep us alive in this craft as people seek out to have
something different, and our clients want something organic and nice
to touch and be surround by. My goal is to find what the clients’ interests
are, what styles of lettering they prefer, the motifs they like, and
then try to incorporate this into their homes. There are many
samples of chip carving in historic buildings throughout Europe. Door
headers on entries and the underside of beams were commonplace. Below
is a list I’ve developed through brainstorming sessions focusing
on as many ideas as possible where I can carve what I call architectural
pieces into a house.
| Pendants Corbels bolsters Dutch tenons Gun stock post Cruck truss King post Headers mantles |
Corner blocks for trim |
Chests |
Back to Chronicles || See more of Richard Cormier's chip carving