At the end of their retreat, the group, sponsored by the Mystic (Conn.) Woodcarvers Club, donates a carving to the growing wooden animal kingdom at Alton Jones. It’s a group effort. The carvers take turns carving, sanding, and sealing. All of the carvings are located in or outside of the main Environmental Education Center dining lodge.
The biggest carving is a life- size moose, which stands in front of the building. There’s also 7-foot bear, a life-size doe and her two fawns, and three geese in flight. One of the animals is fictional—the Lorax made famous by Dr. Seuss. Most of the 12 carvings are created with a mallet and chisels although the bear and a tree of raccoons were roughed out with a chain saw. All carvings are sealed with a clear matte coat. Although the bear was carved out of white pine and the raccoons were carved from a tulip tree, the other animals are from basswood, which comes from the Linden tree.
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Woodcarver Paul Stuewer of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. works on his woodcarvings during the Mystic Woodcarvers Weekend at the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones campus in West Greenwich during Columbus Day Weekend. URI photo by Joe Giblin.
Woodcarvers hang one of the three geese they carved this year as a gift to the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones campus in West Greenwich. Pictured is Harry Duval of Old Lyme, Conn. on ladder, Ray Johnson of Uncasville, Conn. and Paul Ward of Chelmsford, Mass. front and back. Each year the Mystic Woodcarvers Club sponsors a woodcarvers retreat at the URI campus. URI photo Joe Giblin.
A life-size moose stands guard at the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich. The carving was a gift of woodcarvers who attend the Mystic Woodcarvers Weekend each October. URI photo by Joe Giblin.
A wooden raccoon climbs a wooden tree at the University of Rhode Island’s W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich. The carving was a gift of woodcarvers who attend the Mystic Woodcarvers Weekend each October. URI photo by Joe Giblin.