Janel Jacobson - Small Sculptural Wood & Netsuke

For twenty years, between 1995 and 2015, I was deeply involved in carving small sculptures and netsuke from very hard, dense, fine-grained woods and a variety of other carvable materials such as amber, mammoth tusk and antler.

During that time I occasionally joined Will in the pottery studio to make pots for short several-week intervals. When I returned to full time pottery making in 2016 I stopped bringing the small sculptural wood to the national level shows. The transition left me with a number of fine pieces that are still available for purchase.

A selection of netsuke and small sculptures are offered for purchase here: Small Sculptural Wood

Carving boxwood is a very slow and contemplative process. The earliest stage is done with a power tool to remove the gross amount of waste wood. It is noisy and dusty, and not very sensitive. I am glad to have that first day of removal completed, and to be able to move on the quieter and free-flowing work of bringing the subjects and details to life.

The hand-carving stage is accompanied by quiet scraping sounds and the tap and clink of tools being exchanged as needed for removal of material.

Hand tools begin with rasps and files, then to scrapers and chisels of a wide variety of sizes and functions. Most of my tools were self-made as such tools are not commercially available for netsuke carving and small sculptural work.

The antique magnifiers aid in tool placement and detail work, while allowing regular viewing around the lenses.

When the surfaces are smoothed and the detail carving stage begins, I wear cotton gloves with the tool holding fingertips cut off. This keeps the oils from my hands from smudging the clean, light colored boxwood.