Creative Woodworks & crafts 2003-04, страница 50

by Ivan Whillock

Harold Enlow, a longtime resident of Dogpatch, Arkansas, was born on Friday the 13^. It was a lucky day for the woodcarving world! Largely through Harold's influence, caricature carving has bccomc a popular North American pastime. As a boy growing up "smack dab in the middle of the Ozark Mountains," Harold made his first stab at woodcarving when he was eight or nine years old. His interest blossomed, however, when he was stationed in Okinawa. As a nineteen year old enlisted man in the army, he whittled to pass time.

Among Harold's first influences was a book by Andy Anderson, TTow to Carve Characters in Wood. Of course, growing up in the Ozarks gave him ample material as well. Humorous hill folks have been some of his favorite subjects to carve. His first book, Carving Figure Caricatures in the Ozark Style, was published in 1975. In hobby shows throughout the country, one still sees various interpretations of Rufus and Sadie, as well as other carvings from that first book.

Harold began carving professionally in the early 1960's. At first he carved weekends in the theme park, Silver Dollar City, in Missouri, holding a job during the week in nearby Springfield assembling typewriters. Soon the demand for his work was enough to enable him to carve full time, in 1968 he started his own shop at the theme park, Dogpatch, USA, located in Arkansas. Among his carvings were, of course, the characters of the cartoonist, Al Capp. The park no longer exists, and Harold says wryly. "Only we older folks even know who L'il Abticr and Daisy Mae are." Harold's imagination was always at work, whether carving a hobo getting his "beauty sleep" or a spiffy cowgirl ready for "Saturday night." One of Harold's carvings is of a hill person with the skin of a rabbit on his head, titled, "Hare Piece." He invents animals of various descriptions, including cows with two short legs and two long legs for keeping their balance on the Ozark side hills, or the "tiredillo," an animal whose back looks like the tire fragments we see along the highways. Harold has a

50 • Creative Woodworks & Crafts November 2002

Cowboy in style of Andy Anderson (whose work inspired Harold to try carving).

knack for seeing the humor in everyday siluations. The presentation may be exaggerated, but they are situations that wc all rccognize.

Harold's main carving tool is the good old whittling knife, though he also uses palm tools for the cuts they give him. As he travels, his entire tool collection is contained in a single cigar box. In his seminars, Harold moves from student to student, demonstrating his technique for carving eyes, ears, hair, or any other feature he can guide the student through. The student watches one eye being carved and then duplicates the process on the other-side of the face. Occasionally, someone will use their allotted instruction time to have him carve a face in the handle of one of their palm tools. It's quite a plum to have a tool with an Enlow carving on the handle.

Harold Enlow has a following throughout North America. Canadian, Steve Shimski, flew to Minnesota from Scarborough, Ontario, to attend a recent Enlow seminar held in Faribault. When Steve first started carving about two years before this event, Harold Enlow was the first woodcarving "name" he became aware of. The first book he purchased was Cawing Caricatures in the Ozark Style, and, Steve says, "The very first caricature I tried on my own was Rufus." Attending an Enlow seminar was an opportunity Steve couldn't pass up.

With the support of his wife and daughter, Elaine and Katie, Harold has written twelve woodcarving books and teaches 30-35 woodcarving seminars each year. Harold's teaching career extends over four decades. He has traveled throughout die United States and Canada, sharing his techniques with thousands of students. He is a founding member of CCA and a member of the National Wood Carvers' Association, the Ozark Whittlcrs and Wood Carvers, and several other carving groups around the country.

Harold Enlow can be reached at: Enlow Wood Carving, HCR 73, Box 95-C, Dogpatch, AR 72648.

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