Wood sculpture artist Hank George has been pursuing his craft for over thirty years. The majority of his sculptures are fish — trout, salmon, bass — but if you visit his workshop, you can see ducks, hiking staffs, paddles, rod holders, and display mounts, all in various stages of completion.
George got started in this field because of his love of the outdoors, cultivated during years spent hunting and fishing throughout Northern California. He was born in Alturas and lived most of his life in Shasta County. He needed a second career after he became physically disabled with a back injury incurred while working as an underwater diver doing ocean salvage in the Los Angeles harbor. Wood carving allowed him to work at home and earn a living.
To be a good wood sculptor, George says, you have to be able to visualize what you are going to replicate, find that image in a block of wood, and persist until you get it right. With no formal training, he attributes his wood carving success to “stubbornness.” But he has a natural gift for working with wood.
George reports that he experienced an epiphany of sorts when he realized he didn’t have to produce an exact copy of a creature, duplicating, for example, the number of bones in a fish’s fin, details with which wood sculpture judges are obsessed. This revelation left him free to create what one sees at first glance, emphasizing balance and symmetry along with anatomical correctness
Except for plastic eyes, all of George’s pieces are made totally of wood, primarily kiln-dried sugar pine for species representations, varied woods for other carvings. To strengthen thin parts, such as fins, he paints the backside of the wood with resin.
As an added twist to some of his pieces, he has carved the length of a rattlesnake on hiking staffs and has used a section of elk antler as a fly-rod handle.
When visiting his shop, this writer expected to see a variety of wood-carving implements, but George mainly uses one tool — a number two Exacto knife. Evidence of the delicacy of working with a sharply pointed, scalpel-sharp Exacto knife can be seen in the numerous scars on George’s hands and one in his stomach, occasioned when he made the unforgivable mistake of drawing the blade back toward himself.
After he first roughs out the basic shape from a block of wood with a small hand chainsaw, he employs this single blade to sculpt the piece, from rough carving down to the finest details. He then sands the piece before painting it by hand and with an airbrush, both of which require superb artistic skills.
George can also work from pictures, which allows him to re-create someone’s memorable catch or subjects that are endangered, threatened, or extinct.
Hank George’s wood sculptures are in many businesses, gift shops, offices, lodges, and private homes. They are popular items at hunting and fishing banquets and other wildlife fund-raisers.
