Hopi cottonwood root wood carvings are usually one piece carvings that may take three weeks to over a year depending on the intricacies of the subject matter. More extensive carvings may have up to ten characters on a single root.Tools used vary from machine band saw and belt sander to handheld grinders. Other handheld tools like saws, straight knives, palm chisels, wood burner, and sandpaper are also used. Carvings are then finished with wood sealer and acrylic paints.The majority of characters I carve are koyala clowns from 1st Mesa. They can be seen all year long and in many different roles. As teacher, healer, singer, dancer, or religious leader who can travel back and forth between the real and spiritual realms. As a teacher, the clown can be shown to approach the subject matter using humor to get their point across no matter how serious, sacred, trivial, social, or political the issue may be.
