You know you are somewhere special even before you step into Derek’s shop. Somewhere magical. It starts with the location. Derek shares a piece of land with his two brothers and his father that commands a sweeping view of beautiful Chaleur Bay from the long stretch of Eel-River Bar, past Charlo towards Belledune. But as spectacular as the view is, the real magic begins when Derek opens the door to his workshop.
The first thing you see are towering trunks of deeply furrowed, bird’s-eye maple, soaring eight or nine feet high, standing like a forest of uncarved totem poles, guarding the door. It’s from inside these giants that Derek finds his owls, ducks, seahorses, mermaids, breaching humpbacks and abstract works that define his art.
Once past these giants, another door takes you into the actual workshop. The tools of his trade are laid out neatly- a Lee Valley catalogue at the end of the bench. A sense of pride in what he does is reflected in the quality of tools he uses. Everything has its place, including blocks and planks of exotic woods from around the world. There are no distractions here. This is the place where Derek can lose himself for hours at a time.
“Before I started the abstract piece I carefully studied the block of wood,” says Derek. “My job is to find what is inside the wood.” He finds a lot, too. Look around his shop or at the East Wind Boutique, a co-op run by volunteers, at the Dalhousie Visitor Information Centre, and you will get a partial idea of the universe of ideas inside this man.
This whirlwind of creativity he credits to his Micmag heritage and his parents. His mother is a painter, his father a carver who was featured on Wayne Ronstadt’s television show, “On The Road Again.” But a big part comes from his love of nature. As a child Derek was always outdoors. “When I was young my favourite place was a swamp. I loved going in there and chasing after snakes and frogs.” And fishing. Derek loves to fish. But an accident at work changed all that.
Derek is a man who likes to be busy. He is always doing something. He built his own house after he helped his father to build his - the accident slowed him down for a while, but it was the accident that led Derek to carving. While recovering, he was whittling away at a piece of wood and the next thing he knew he had fashioned a small fish. After that, there was no turning back.
Precise in his moves, he is completely self-taught; a perfectionist, nothing leaves the shop before it is truly ready. And that means hours and hours of careful carving and then hours more of sanding. “It’s the grain, the beauty of the grain and bringing it out,” says Derek as he rubs his hand over the marble-like surface of an owl he has been sanding.
In the end, Derek carves because he has to carve - he’s just got so many ideas. With that stand of uncarved bird’s-eye maple guarding his workshop, he will have plenty of opportunity to bring his ideas to life.
Derek Letourneau
Barewood Carvings
114 Letourneau Ln.
Dalhousie
506-684-3278
www.barewoodcarvings.ca