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Charles E. Dick, Wood Carver The Pelham Public Library is exhibiting the wood carvings of Pelham artist Charles E. Dick in June 2007. Mr. Dick started the Chess Club at Pelham Memorial School in 1992. After eleven years of working with some of the brightest students in Pelham, a series of strokes forced him to step aside. However, his love of chess is evident in the beautiful inlay chess board and intricately carved chess pieces on display. He carved while serving in the Navy and began doing inlay work when he moved to Pelham about 35 years ago. He started making the plaques as wooden greeting cards for birthdays and special occasions for his grandchildren. The ideas and drawings come mainly from coloring books. Each plaque takes four to six hours to complete. They are outlined with a wood-burning tool and hand-painted with acrylic paints. When the grandchildren rant out of walls to hang them on, he began giving them away to nursing home residents, waitresses, grocery store baggers – they are not for sale; that’s what makes them priceless.
Featured next to the staircase is a drawing of Alice in Wonderland’s Cheshire Cat by Walt Disney artist Mark Mitchell in a pepperwood frame carved by Mr. Dick. The carvings were done with an X-Acto knife, highlighted with the wood-burning tool. He started the frame in 1989 and gave it to his daughter as a Christmas present in 1990. He says he originally made the elaborately carved Harry Potter walking stick for himself, but his eldest granddaughter, “nagged and bugged me until I gave it to her. I made another for her sister. She wasn’t into Harry Potter, so I sent it to J.K. Rowling!” On Display: Wood Inlay Chess Board with Carved
Pieces This ongoing series of multi-media art exhibits features the work of local artists with the goal of promoting arts awareness and accessibility to the public. |
