Couple makes a living releasing art from wood

COLE CAMP, Mo. -- With fingers as sure as a surgeon's and a touch as delicate as a watchmaker's, Jim Maxwell spends his days turning blocks of wood into intricate works of art.

A visit to his shop in Cole Camp, the Buzzard's Roost, will usually find him standing at a work table, carving his latest project; his wife, Margie, sitting behind a showcase counter painting colors to finish a piece; and their old dog, Blondie, snoozing in a corner as tunes from 1950s albums fill the air.

There is something magical about finding something one absolutely loves to do and then finding a way to make a living from it. Jim and Margie Maxwell have done just that.

The carved items around the shop are strikingly detailed -- wooden duck decoys, a string of carved fish, and Santa after Santa, of every design and size.

Many of the Santa Claus figures are carved onto wooden needle holders and wooden thread spools, and can serve as Christmas tree decorations or sit on a knickknack shelf. Many are both carved and painted by Margie Maxwell, who learned the art while helping her husband teach carving classes.

"We carve and sell all kinds of things," she said, "but the Santas are by far the most popular sculptures at this time of the year."

Imagination in 3D

Jim Maxwell can't remember exactly when he started whittling and carving, or when he realized his talent of looking at a piece of wood and seeing a shape inside.

"It takes the ability to visualize in three dimensions," he said. "I have to know what not to cut off, while an artist working in clay or beeswax can keep adding until he has what he wants. One cut too many for me, and it's start all over again."

He began his professional life as a woodcarver when, back in the late '60s, he sold pieces to Silver Dollar City in Branson to be resold in their gift shop. He eventually became the park's woodcarver-in-residence and opened a shop in downtown Branson. The couple moved to mid-Missouri in the late 1970s.

Browsing Maxwell's treasure trove of woodcarvings gives a shopper a sense of the attention to detail. Looking at a fish on the wall can almost make one feel the wet and slippery scales. A 9-inch Santa Claus is correct in every detail, right down to the pack of toys on his back.

Painting the carvings is an art in itself: some details are so tiny that they require a special brush or even a toothpick. "I use the toothpick to put that tiny touch of white in the eyes that adds life to the carving," Margie Maxwell said.

This time of year, the tiny shop is packed with Santa Claus figures, in costumes ranging from the old German and Scandinavian robes to modern St. Nicks dressed in red wools and white furs and carrying sacks full of toys.

Figures range in size from 2 inches to 2 feet, prices range from around $10 to hundreds of dollars, depending on size and detail.