By Angie Wotton
Dee and Phyllis Cote live in what used to be Beecher and Sadie Carmichael’s farmhouse in Littleton. It is the farm where I first picked potatoes as a kid and traveled the field roads on our pony and later, three-wheeler. The Cotes moved to the farm about four years ago, after Dee retired as an electrician with his own business for over 30 years in Connecticut. While his trade was as an electrician, Dee’s real passion lies with wood carving. Or stone, metal or even a goose egg. (More on that in a minute). Phyllis told me, “It’s in his blood.” Dee’s great-grandfather was a master woodcarver and it has carried through the various generations including Dee’s brother Tom in Limestone and Tom’s granddaughter.
When I stepped into the barn that once housed a dozen or so cattle just a few years ago, it was transformed into a wood working shop, top to bottom. Downstairs, Dee has various machines for cutting and shaping and even turning wood burls into beautiful bowls. Upstairs, the intricacies of wood carving happen with racks of multi-sized carving tools hanging neatly on a Lazy Susan-type of stand, many various-sized mallets that Dee makes himself, and wood-burning tools such as an electric tool, the size of a pen, that allows one to “cut” a delicate design in the afore-mentioned goose egg.
Dee also has a stand displaying woodcarving in five steps. Step one illustrates the beginning outline up to the finished step five of a completed carved product. After showing me each one, Dee would say, “Easy, huh?” I wasn’t so convinced. One example was a little open ornament with bars around it and a ball that rolled back and forth on the inside. He credits Scandinavian carvers as influencing his designs and you can see that influence in the examples lining the studio walls.
Works in different stages of progress are also evident in the room and represent work by members of the local carving group. Dee explained that when he was living in Connecticut, he belonged to a woodcarving group that would get together to learn from one another and put on seminars to promote their craft to the public. When he moved here, no such group existed and he worked with other carvers in establishing one.
The Border Carvers was born and meet at Dee’s the first Monday of every month. They are an officially recognized club – one of 10 such groups in Maine.
One club project of late has been the design and carving of canes for veterans. A program through the Maine Bureau of Veterans Affairs, the canes feature a design by the carver and lists the veteran’s name, rank, awards and stripes. The Border Carvers have donated about 20 canes so far.
In addition to the woodcarving group, Dee opens his shop up each Monday night from 6-9 p.m. to those wanting to learn the art of carving. Classes are informal with open enrollment. Currently there are about seven people who come each week to learn and socialize.
Dee and his wife Phyllis invited me into their home where displays of wood carvings of different styles are on view throughout. It was nice to see a beloved part of my childhood transformed into something different but with just as much love and care. Anyone interested in learning about wood carving or turning can contact Dee at 538-1870 or 521-9010.
Angie Wotton loves her work as district manager for the Southern Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District. She also raises pastured pork and vegetables with her husband on their small West Berry Farm in Hammond.
She can be reached 532-9407 or via email angela.wotton@ me.nacdnet.net.
