HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-11-26, Page 15Second Section - November 26, 1997
e stoof th ptotempole
By Chantall /an Raay
T -A Reporter
Inspired by the sea.
Vancouver Island last summer. Oke said
floated in from the ocean.
Marg Oke carved a totem pole for her sister-in-law on Qualicum Beach,
the pole she used was an abandoned log that
main street is covered with poles: People she met in
• Vancouver saw the pole she created on the
'XETER - An old tree or even a telephone pole
can tell a story. All you need is a chainsaw.
That's how Marg Oke from Exeter creates her
story. She takes a piece of wood, whether it be
from a tree or an anchor and she carves into it.
Oke has been creating totem poles for the past
four years. Some are two -feet high and others are
massive ten -foot high poles.
She began -carving totem poles four -years -ago
by experimenting on a fence.
"I tried it for fun. I carved a face in a fence post
ann it kind of went from there," she said, adding
it wasn't long until she realized how mucb satis-
faction she received from it. - -
"Any artist gets great satisfaction in when
someone says how great it looks orasks'How
did you do that?" -
Working with wood has always been a fascina-
tion of Oke, even when she was a child.
"I've always had a, fascination with totem
poles," she said. "They're interesting, they're
unique and you never see two alike."
The reason Oke never carves two identical
poles is because she never knows exactly what
she is going to create.
• "I look at the pole and I don't necessarily see
what's going to come out of it. Sometimes I'll
walk around the pole for an hour and look at the
pole. I'll tum it over and look at each side."
She said she does this even before she makes
---the first cut. .
"If you get off on the wrong foot, it won't
work," she. said. "By the first cut you know if
you've made the wrong cut." '
Last summer Oke and her husband Allen vis-
ited inlaws on Vancouver Island. For a few days
during the trip, Oke called Qualicum Beach'her
home where she spent much of her time carving
a pole for her sister-in-law.
"I carved the' pole right on the beach, It was a
log that had floated in and we picked it up."
The pole is now situated right in the ocean's
view.
"I'd go back there and do it again," 'she said.
The ocean was inspirational for Oke - it assisted
her when she created the' story to go along with
the pole.
"There's an owl on top and two faces'in the
middle (a happy and sad face) and a fish at the
bottom," she explained. "It's a matter of the wise
old owl making a choice between who catches
the fish - the happy or the sad face."
She said Vancouver Island 'was especially
inspirational for her because of the amount of
totem poles on the island. She said most of the
beach and said when she came back to Exeter she got
calls "from all over Canada," to create a totem pole
for them.
Oke admitted that so far none of these calls have
mareialized from the calls, but she still continues to
make poles for people in Exeter.
"We were driving the other day and I saw a totem
pole I had made in someone's backyard. It was really
great to see it," she said, adding one thing she
regrets about her poles is she never carved her name
into them.
But that's one thing she plans to do with the rest of
the poles she carves. She also plans to change her
style a little and use some paint. Presently all of her
poles have a weathered look but she said many peo-
ple ask her if should would paint the poles.
"I like the weathered look myself," she said."But I
would like to paint some some day."
Wooden wonder. Oke with one of very first!
creations. The totem poles she designs
, range anywhere from two to ten -foot high ;
poles.
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CASE 111