Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, September 17, 2007

HAY RIVER - Garry Carter, a Hay River carver, believes everyone has artistic ability.

"Everybody has something," he said during a recent interview. "Down deep inside of them there's something they can do if they want to do it."

Garry Carter, a carver in Hay River, displays some of his work. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

And it doesn't matter how old a person may be.

Carter, now 60, really started carving when he was about 50. Before that, he only created an occasional little canoe or fishing boat.

"I could never do anything else," he said.

That was before his late brother Leon taught him some of the keys to carving.

"I sat down with him for two hours and it just exploded from there," Carter said. "I went in every direction."

His brother taught him how to look at things when you want to carve them, and how to see character in people's faces by examining features like smile lines, big or little eyes, or bent noses.

Now Carter's specialty is carving characters.

"It's called characters because of the detailed work you put into it," he explained.

The carvings try to capture the essence of a person, often with a sense of humour. Many of the carvings have what might be called an Old West look, such as one of Carter's favourite pieces - a drunk holding a bottle.

Carter said he doesn't carve any real people, just faces from his imagination.

Carter cut back on carving over the past year.

However, he thinks he will begin to carve more now, after getting a shot of enthusiasm from the interest shown in his carvings during the recent trade show in Hay River.

"I'm inspired to get at it again," he said.

In the decade he has been carving, he has created more than 100 works.

While many of his carvings have been given away to family and friends, and a few sold, he still has over 60 of them.

Carter carves with basswood, which comes from a tree in southern Quebec and Maine.

The soft, light wood has grains that are very close together and doesn't split.

"I've never seen the tree," he noted.

Carter said he took up carving for relaxation.

After a stressful day, he said he would go into his workshop and start to carve. "And it would be 1 or 2 a.m. before you know it. "That was when he still owned Carter Industries Ltd., a construction company he founded in 1969.

Carter sold the company to his two sons in 1999, but still works as a part-time field supervisor.

The carver said he really doesn't consider himself an artist.

"It's a hobby, strictly a hobby," he said.

Carter, who moved to Hay River with his fishing family when he was just nine, said he never wanted to become a professional carver. "I don't do it for the money or anything like that."