Carvings

I began concocting wooden images in 1969, and started selling them on street corners in 1971 -- children's playthings, wooden puns, crude scenes, pocket animals, mechanical amusements. A photojournalist did a story about me back then, and titled his piece Bryce The Toymaker. The name stuck. Toys are something you play with in your hands, my carvings were playful --and tactile. I thought of myself as a toymaker for the next 25 years.

Meanwhile the work evolved, became more visually elaborate. During the years our son Seth played in the shop with me, we designed kidstuff, but as he grew up, so did the carvings. Sometime in the 90s I stopped calling myself a toymaker, and admitted I'd become a sculptor.

Making wooden images is still my calling -- my true work -- the thing I do best. Everything else is a side bet. I now work in a clutch of other media, but this is the game I play for mortal stakes.

Recent Work

The carvings can be sorted out into a variety of genre, from pocket toys to murals. I still work in all the forms -- spontaneously, or by commission -- but my prime focus these days is on two collections of images: American Icons and Perennial Dancers.

(Click on the links for more images)
American Icons


Marilyn

A series of portraits of
American Culture Heroes and Tricksters
Local Myths


Heron Dancer

A procession of dancers portraying
The Round of the Seasons
Persistent Patterns

The vast bulk of my work has been commissioned by loyal patrons. When I was making toys, folks would imagine a playful image, and I would conjure it up -- a tractor, a pig on a tractor, Uncle Charlie as a pig on a tractor smoking his pipe. Now my commissions may be more elaborate, if no less whimsical. Here are some of the forms I've worked in recently.
Garden Sculpture


Dancing Loon

Garden Goodies

Mythography



Swan Dancers

(Medusa's Sisters)

Mythic Figures

Older Types

Although I may conjure a few pieces in these genre each year, I find it harder and harder to do the magic in these forms. Something about our vision changing, and the work evolving.
Pocket Carvings



Pocket Deer

Tangibles
Storybook Characters


Toad

Tales from the Woodpile
Odds & Ends


Pig Wrestler

Miscellaneous Carvings

Past Collections

I have managed to put together some collections in the past -- as a commissioned series, or simply ad hoc.
A Spirit Procession


A Spirit Procession
An Animal Symphony

The Animal Symphony
A Maritime Interlude


Maritime Images
An Alchemical Transformation


Alchemical Series
Early Work

We didn't own a decent camera for the first dozen years I was making and selling carvings, so there are precious few photos of these early works -- but you can get a rough idea of what I was about by clicking here.

Mythic Mobiles


Flying Mythos