Editor’s note: One of the delights in editing Mary May’s upcoming book on carving acanthus leaves is that she poured so much of herself into it. Not just in the instruction offered in the book – but also her biography. While you learn how to carve the many variants on the classic acanthus, you also follow Mary as she ventures all over the world in her efforts to carve, carve and carve. Here’s one of the short tales that I particularly enjoyed.
We’re working hard on getting this book edited so that it will be out by summer. Stay tuned.
— Christopher Schwarz
My first experience with woodcarving occurred when I was 6. I had just made the big move from kindergarten to first grade and we were all excited to have learned a new skill. With a big yellow pencil and some lined paper, our task was to neatly print our names in capital letters. Fortunately, my name is mostly straight lines, so writing M-A-R-Y came easily. Proud of my new skill, I practiced this new art form wherever I could.
As it happened, there was a lovely, nine-drawer antique pine dresser in my bedroom. It seemed obvious that the smooth surfaces of the wooden drawers were a perfect canvas to show off my penmanship, but the lines from the big yellow pencil did not show up well. I borrowed one of my dad’s screwdrivers and proceeded to carefully etch my name on the surface of each and every drawer. I was able to scratch the soft pine deeply without much effort, and while I was proud of my new masterpiece, I was already looking for more places to share my art.
However, it soon dawned on me that not everyone would appreciate my creativity. I loved it, but would they? My inventive (and manipulative) young mind started figuring a way to keep myself squeaky clean. In a moment of sneaky inspiration, I realized that my brother’s name “MARK” might provide the perfect cover. I thought, “I’ll just draw an extra line on the Y and make it look like a K.” I was sure everyone would think that Mark did it! So I altered the Y on every drawer with an extra, diagonal scratch to complete the transformation. I was so impressed with my cleverness that it was a real shock when my parents immediately blamed me! How did they know?
The wise punishment from my parents was to make me use that dresser all the way through high school, facing my “Mark” every single day. My love for carving only increased from that young age, as has my respect for parents who recognize the passions of their child and help foster it into their grown life’s work.
— Mary May, Mary May’s School of Traditional Woodcarving
I am so looking forward to Mary’s book. I have been working at the acanthus for a number of years and her instruction will be most welcome. (I loved seeing her on The Woodwrights Shop)…
Mary may want to complain to her editor about publishing misspelling of her text (iss). Of course there are many reasons why I could never be an editor but I would make a great critic.
Really?
The exact same thing happened to me. I carved my name, “Paul” into a chest of drawers.
Knowing I would get scolded, I decided to alter it at once. I was sure my scheme would succeed.
I altered the work so that it was slightly changed, here I quote it verbatim: It wasn’t me, Paul, who carved this. It was bad, naughty Mary May. She is always doing that sort of thing. Mary May did this, not me, Paul. She’s the one who should get in trouble.”
My mother saw right through my artifice.
I got in trouble real bad! My mom was smart!
Great story!!
Cool story! I’ve seen a few carving vids by MM, she makes it look easy which means, she’s pretty damn good at it!
🙂
I nominate this as the best titled blog post of 2016.
In a similar course of events, my younger brother, at age 2, found a hatchet and decided to chop into the two doors of the antique pine dry sink in the living room. He now has that pine dry sink, complete with hatchet scars, in his house. I’m sure he thinks about how he just can’t have nice things every time he sees it.
I have almost finished a book cabinet designed to hold Lost Arts Press treasures. I am confident there will be room in the cabinet for Mary’s book.
Mary’s online instruction has been a joy, while adding to my woodworking exploration.
A big thank you to all involved in this project.
I had talked myself out of needing this book, and then you post this.
when will Mary’s book be available ?
As I wrote in the intro: We’re working hard on getting this book edited so that it will be out by summer.