EVERY DAY ELVIS DAVIS makes wise use of his time. The wood carver, whose sculptures get more than a second glance by motorists travelling along Seaview Road, St James, has embodied the motto of his alma mater – Ellerslie Secondary School – into everything he does.
“You see that motto? That’s what got me doing all of this madness,” he told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY with a chuckle.
It was there in the woodwork room that he got the foundation for his craft, he said. Then he used to shape pieces with black coral.
For more than “30-something” years, some of which he took a break to raise his children – he has been carving faces, people in great detail, and functional items. He has also taught others the craft.
Whether in Barbados or his second home in England, he carves or sculpts a piece every day using “strictly mahogany”, but he is prepared to try working with the sandbox tree.
“I get [the wood] from all about, in the bush, people bring it and give it to me. People just bring and drop them here . . . . I like my work to look natural . . . . You have to have an eye for it, I have an eye that’s trained. I can take up [a] piece of wood now and before I touch it I can see four people in it or a certain shape to bring it out, that’s how I work,” he explained.
“Sometimes I would sit here at night and look at the work and come and market it because the night gives you a different light. I work with the shape of the wood, I don’t try to move the form at all.”
He said he does not like working for anyone and therefore tries to “survive with this work” whether in Temple Yard, Seaview or the United Kingdom where he has exhibited with Ras Ilix and displayed his work with the Red Bridge Council during Black History Month.
An important part of the process was knowing the wood, the grains and how to cut it and which tools to use, he stated.
He noted that he does not set prices for his sculptures before he carves and is willing to make items requested such as pipes.
“A typical day for me is waking up and picking at whatever I like picking at. I don’t work on one piece at a time, I try to control my energy because when you spend your energy on one piece, you’re only getting one piece done. If you have three or four pieces, you do a little on each of them,” he said.
He added: “Most of my work is sold in England. I’m really based there, [I] have lived there for 16 years. I’ve only been back from December.” (GBM)
