Hello from Ottawa, Canada

[Phil White]

Hello everyone,

 

Just to introduce myself, my name is Phil White, and I have been carving and sculpting various materials professionally for about 25 years. I live in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, where most of my days are spent designing and carving stone sculptures in the Gothic style for the Parliament Buildings. I have also spent many years working for the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation and Canadian War Museum, where I worked as a conservator and sculptor for both museums. I also manage to find the time for some private commissions, mostly heraldic sculpture.

 

The inspiration for my work comes from English Gothic sculpture, Haida sculpture, and Japanese carving and metalwork on netsuke and tsubas.

 

I have attached a few photos of my work in various materials, trying to concentrate on smaller pieces, or carvings with fine detail.

 

Sorry, I don’t have a website.

 

I look forward to talking to you.

 

Phil

[Janel]

Hi Phil,

 

Welcome to The Carving Path! Thanks for the great pictures of your carvings!!!

 

Janel

[Jim Kelso]

Welcome Phil. What a diverse and interesting range of work.

[Doug Sanders]

Thanks for the pictures of your work. The heraldic piece with the strange creatures... half polar bear/half red raven?

 

-Doug

[Guest ford hallam]

Welcome Phil,

 

that's a pretty impressive introduction. I reckon you'll have quite a lot to offer the readers of this forum. Fine sense of design and beautifully executed too.

 

regards, Ford ( the tsuba guy )

[Phil White]

Thanks for the comments!

 

I'm glad to be amongst so many folks with similar and varied interests.

 

Yes, heraldic beasts are wierd and wonderful creatures. The "raven bears" are the supporters of the arms of the Canadian Heraldic Authority, who grant arms, flags, badges, etc. They represent a combination of strength (bears) and transformation, in reference to the raven as a transformer in Native mythology.

 

Phil

[Doug Sanders]

Thanks for the explanation

One more question- what wood have you used for the military figure with the pike or polearm?

[Phil White]

Hi Doug,

 

The pikeman carving was based on a 17th century engraving by Jacob DeGheyn. He was carved from basswood, is 11 inches tall, and was done in 1989 for the Canadian War Museum.

 

Phil

[magnus homestead]

Hello Phil,

Thanks for your presence here - I like your work very much. I, like Doug wondered what the wood was that you carved the pikeman from - I have a friend who carves birds who uses basswood - have you ever tried boxwood? I very much like your Haida style totem carvings. I came up to the Pacific Northwest U.S. in 1978 and have always been impressed with the beauty of the carvings done up here.

Magnus

[Phil White]

Thanks Magnus, I really appreciate your comments.

 

The Haida carving was something that I don't get into very often, but I love the style, and find it very inspirational. My father was from the west coast, and we used to go there almost every summer. The piece was done as a retirement gift for a former CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, who happens to be a leading expert on Haida art. When he recieved it at his going away party, he paid me one of the highest compliments I have ever recieved. He cried.

 

I have worked in boxwood before. It's a wonderful material. I was fortunate to luck into a sale on French boxwood a few years ago at Lee Valley tools (about a 5 minute walk from my house) and I bought about 75 pounds of logs and branches in various sizes.

 

The attached photo is of a plough plane I made quite a few years ago during my internship. It was made of boxwood, ebony and ivory.

 

Phil

 

[Doug Sanders]

(whistling smiley) That's a beauty!

[Novice Carver]

Awesome stuff Phil, I'm excited to learn from your posts.