The Boreal Carver, Pat Potvin
Pat Potvin in his bark carving workshop.
About Bark Carving:
The bark that is used is from the Boreal Forest of Northern Alberta near Lesser Slave Lake. It comes from Black Poplar and is taken off a completely dead tree or picked off the ground. Trees 100 to 150 years old will yield bark thick and wide enough for carving larger pieces. Bark for Christmas ornaments can come from trees as young as 75 years old. Pat uses his creativity, pictures and inspiration from the “bark” to decide what to carve. The carvings are done using hand tools, and a little bit of sanding. The carving is coated with lacquer, which gives it a rich dark colour and exposes the layers in the bark. A wood-burning tool is used for marking and colouring.
About Pat Potvin, The Boreal Carver:
Pat Potvin has been carving bark since 1999 and has taught several classes in Bark Carving including:
Carving Your First Wood Spirit
Creating Your Own Whimsical Cottage
Carving Faces
He has donated his work for fundraising events for several local groups in and around Slave Lake. Pat is a founding member of the local bark carving club, The Marten Mountain Bark Carvers.
Pat has explored his carving talents in different forms such as pumpkin carving and in the past several years has started chainsaw carving. Pat takes orders for commission pieces.