MINOT, N.D. (AP) - A Minot man has an unusual ability to discover good luck and share it with others. Paul Simonson creates Wood Spirits, long the legend of bearers of good luck and good fortune, by working his own magic on, of all things, aged cottonwood bark.
The Minot Daily News (https://bit.ly/2oveF6Y ) reports that Simonson retired after a working career where he served as a Minot firefighter for 10 years and a delivery driver for Federal Express for nearly 20. Now, instead of delivering packages, he delivers Wood Spirits at a small carving table in his garage. Under a small light and sometimes using magnification, Simonson artfully carves the mythical creatures from cottonwood bark, never knowing what image will emerge.
“It’s all a mystery. You don’t know what you’ll get when you start,” Simonson said.
Recalling his youth when he was introduced to carving Ivory soap into various images, Simonson delved into Wood Spirit carving as a way to pass the time in his ice house when the fish weren’t biting. It allowed him to bring out an artistic ability perhaps as hidden as the Wood Spirits themselves.
Where or when the legend of the Wood Spirits began cannot be said with certainty, only that belief in the existence of Wood Spirits is ancient legend. In addition to good luck, Wood Spirits have been credited with bringing beautiful autumn colors and cool breezes to the forest. Their presence is world-wide.
Simonson uncovers his Wood Spirits beneath cottonwood bark. Not just any cottonwood. Wood Spirits are much too clever for that.
“I use trees that have fallen over and been dead for quite a while,” explained Simonson. “You can’t get bark off a cottonwood tree until they’ve been dead for about three years. The bark loosens up over time.”
Dead and fallen cottonwood trees along the Missouri River have proven to be a reliable, and virtually limitless, supply of bark for Simonson’s unique ability to find and create the Wood Spirit that lives within.
“You shave the top off and you get a soft, almost redwood look,” said Simonson while pointing to several Wood Spirits previously carved. “You never know what kind of face is going to pop out. It comes out on its own.”
Simonson began his Wood Spirit carving using a simple wood carver’s jackknife. He’s since added specialized knives that enable him to do some of the finer work. He has a few wood chisels that would be the envy of any craftsman, but maintains the hobby remains inexpensive. And, he says, there’s no deadline to meet and no pressure to get the job done.
“The whole idea is, I’m not doing it for production purposes. I’m doing it for a hobby. It’s fun,” said Simonson. “No two are the same. There’s no pattern. You just go.”
Simonson says he carves the Wood Spirits by dividing the faces into thirds, beginning with the foreheads down to the eyes. How the faces will turn out sometimes depends on the features of the wood, but mostly they are the individual creation of the man carefully handling a sharp carving knife. Beards and mustaches are a must for Wood Spirits, allowing Simonson the freedom to create virtually any image that comes to mind.
“Sometimes it depends on how you do the nose,” explained Simonson. “Then it’s whatever kind of mustache and beard you think would look good.”
The artisan who brings the images of the Wood Spirits to life has just begun to share his creations with the public. The hand-carved creations of Dakota Woodspirits proved to be very popular at The Big One craft show held at Minot’s All-Seasons arena last fall. Visitors were intrigued, fascinated and captured by the Wood Spirits previously hidden beneath the bark of a dead cottonwood and revealed only by the unique skills of a crafty carver.
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Information from: Minot Daily News, https://www.minotdailynews.com
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