Carving a niche
CENTER TWP — Janet Ellis' Center Township living room is filled with wooden carvings.
By the front window, a pair of wooden children ride a sled. Across the room, a wooden boy scuba dives through seaweed in search of a bright orange fish.
Two of Ellis' creations won national awards from the Caricature Carvers of America at a competition in Indiana last month.
Ellis won Best in Show and the mixed-group category, taking home a prize for each of her entries.
“I'm very honored to have won that,” she said. “This is quite the honor for a carver.”
Ellis is the first woman to win the Best of Show title since the organization began staging the competition in 2002.
Her creation depicts a pair of hands, meant to represent her husband Dave's, carving a newt out of a block of wood. Titled “Happy Birthday,” the creation holds a special meaning for Janet and her family, as do all her carvings.
“It's no fun carving something unless you have a story,” Janet said, while sitting in her basement workshop. “I really need to know a story.”
“Happy Birthday” evokes for the family memories of time spent at their cabin in Clarion County.
Her then-five-year-old granddaughter, Sydni, found a small, orange newt, and it became her pet during the family vacation. The girl was heartbroken when she had to release him back to the wild.
In Ellis' mixed-group winner, two children careen down a hill on a sled. The boy's face is filled with glee, while the girl riding behind him looks scared. Ellis carved the piece in the likeness of her grandson, Jeremy, who she says is “a bit of a daredevil,” and his younger sister.
Ellis, a former teacher, began carving almost 20 years ago, at the urging of her husband.
Dave Ellis carved duck decoys, and Janet always painted his finished carvings. When their two boys completed school, Dave urged Janet to learn to carve. Janet hesitated but, encouraged by her husband's carver friends, she gave it a try.
“I fell in love with doing it.” she said. “It's a very relaxing thing.”
Her first carving sits atop a cabinet in the family room. It is an image of her father in his Pullman Standard overalls, toolbox in hand.
Her cozy basement workshop is filled with her tools. A large wooden table sits in the center of the room. Behind the table, shelves are filled with knives and chisels. Blocks of wood form a neat pile under a side table.
In the living room, caricatures are displayed in lighted cabinets. Grandchildren in Halloween costumes and Santas share space with Dave Ellis' duck decoys.
Ellis said when she got the call about her winning entries she at first assumed the sled-riding carving had taken the top prize.“I was surprised by what won the competition,” she said.She said the carving took a winter's worth of work. “Carving is not a hurry up and do it job,” she said. “It relaxes you, but you have to have patience. It's not going to be done overnight.”Jim Hiser, a member of the Caricature Carvers of America, met Ellis and transported her carvings to the event.“The execution, originality and painting was phenomenal,” Hiser said of “Happy Birthday.”The Carlisle man, who met Ellis at carving classes, said there were more than 160 entries at the competition. Prizes are awarded in 13 categories ranging from mixed group to miniatures, Santas and busts.The entries are judged by three members of the Caricature Carvers of America, an invitation-only group that limits its roster to 25 active members.Hiser said “it's a great thing” to have a woman take the top honors and hopes it will encourage other women to try their hand at carving.More information about the Caricature Carvers of America can be found on the group's website at www.cca-carvers.org.
