Famous
Whittlers
Folk School is home of
appealing wood carv¬
ings.
If you happen to be traveling on
Highway 64 and proceed cast from
Murphy, N. C for about seven miles,
you will see a large wooden sign on
the right hand side of the road, which
reads:
THE JOHN C. CAMPBELL FOLK
SCHOOL FOR THE ENRICHMENT
OF RURAL LIFE
and an arrow pointing toward a
wide macadam road. If you follow this
road for about 500 feet, you will see
another sign, this time a metal sil¬
houette of a man plowing, with the
lettering: "I Sing Behind the Plow."
You will have arrived at the John C.
Campbell Folk School, and if it hap¬
pens to be on a Saturday morning,
you will probably see other cars turn¬
ing in this same road — or perhaps a
few people on foot — with baskets on
their arms. These will be the Brass-
town carvers, on their weekly trip to
the Folk School, which is located in
the community of Brasstown.
School Begins
But wait! If you are not familiar
with the John C. Campbell Folk
School, perhaps we had better go back
a little — say. to 1925. For this was
the beginning of the school. Patterned
after the Folk schools of Denmark, it
was founded with the idea of keeping
an enlightened, progressive, and con¬
tented farming population on the land,
to build a more cultural, economically
sound country life. Such a school was
welcomed by the people of the com¬
munity. who said they wanted "a school
for our boys and girls where they can
learn to farm and keep house."
A New Field
However, it was not long before it
was apparent that something more
was needed — other than the teaching
of farming, dairying and basic rural
economy. There was a need for an
outlet for the inherent creative talents
of the people — talents which though
dormant, had potentials for further en¬
richment of their lives — and what was
just as important, in supplementing
their cash income. After careful re¬
search. the natural ability of the men
in the community for whittling, plus
the abundant supply of beautiful na¬
tive woods, resulted in the first craft
enterprise of the Folk School: and
although they now sponsor many
other crafts — weaving, metal work,
cabinet work and natural dyeing — the
school is probably best known for the
high quality of the wood carvings, pro¬
duced by the students and the now'
well-known wood carvers of Brass-
town.
It is a craft in which everyone in
the family can participate— men. wom¬
en and children. At first the men did
most of the actual carving while the
women did the sanding and finishing,
but it soon became obvious that some
of the women could carve as well as
the men. And that the children easily
acquired a feeling for the wood and
often became active participants in
the family woodcarving projects.
Native Woods
Most of these carvings arc done
from the "round" or a solid piece of
wood; rich walnut, mellow red cherry
and apple, or soft white holly, carved
with a pocket knife. All the familiar
farm animals arc subjects for the carv¬
ers. as well as the shy woodland crea¬
tures such as the deer, squirrel, fox
and bear.
Mrs. Murrial Martin, wood-carv¬
ing instructor of the Folk School (or
"Murray" as she is affectionately
known in the community), loves to
tell of the early days of the wood¬
carving venture. This was a new ex¬
perience to these inherently shy moun¬
tain people. Their hands were more
accustomed to handling the plow than
fashioning an intricate figure from a
block of wood, with a pocket knife
formerly used for idle whittling. But
even from the first, accuracy of detail
as well as beauty of design was de¬
manded. no matter how small the carv¬
ing. It is the emphasis placed on na¬
turalness that has made the carvings
of the Folk School so distinguished
and sought after through the years.
Original
Many of the carvers originate their
own designs and most of them instinc¬
tively give their work an originality of
treatment that is as easily recognized
as their signature. Mrs. Martin says
that always, when there was a doubt
as to the authenticity of the design,
her advice to the carver was to go
out to the pig pen, or the chicken yard,
and see for themselves wherein they
were in error. And that often it was
not her constructive criticism that
17
THE STATE. May 22. 1954
