Agates and Myrtlewood

“The greatest risk,” he explains, “is losing your truck when you hit a sinkhole and find the tires sunk up to the axles with the tide coming in and only a few minutes away from washing the vehicle down under the sand.”

But so far he and his vehicles have always made it back with enough wood to keep him carving through the year. Back at home, the pieces of wood have to be cleaned up and carved down enough to make it possible to move them with a hand truck, and then the real work begins. With no set plan in mind, he begins carving away pieces of wood with chainsaws, letting the shape of the wood and the patterns of the grain influence his decisions.

There, that’s the intuitive evolving bit. He doesn’t work from a drawing or a maquette, he just starts. “It’s a challenge,” he says, “because of the complete and undivided focus and concentration required.” The wood and the artist’s own experience and perception influence the direction of the carving process, bringing their individual energies. David has to pay close attention to what’s happening, and let himself allow it to happen.

It’s a process that’s possible because of the way he chooses to live, because of the agates on his driveway. His home, which he built himself, shows a creative process as well. Set in the redwoods in Westhaven, it’s a modest house sitting comfortably in the middle of a thriving ecosystem. The emphasis is on the view, as a good portion of one side of the house is windows overlooking a pond system he also built. “I thrive in environments where I’m surrounded by nature and then that comes out in my artwork,” he says.

And the finished product? Another art critic, Matthew Kangas, says that his work is “dynamic in the extreme, its visual activity is an interplay of surface and profile.” That’s a good one. Interplay of surface and profile? Do you know what the pieces look like now? But when you do see one, you’ll agree that it is hard to describe. There are sweeping curves and jagged points. There are deep, shadowed recesses and protrusions that catch the light. And the surface, which he used to sand smooth, he now finishes with a chisel, giving it the texture of water on a windy day.

As always, I feel like I can’t really do the artist justice in this short essay, especially while trying not to be too pretentious. You have to go and see the work and spend some time with it. Spend some time agate hunting as well. David Groth’s latest sculptures will be on display at Piante Gallery, 620 Second St., through the month of February. Gallery hours are from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

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