Rick Bartow


protective of her children, the other a playful, foible-filled teacher of great power.” The Bear also represents Walter Lawrence Klamath, a Siletz elder who passed away in 2010 and will watch and protect from high above.


S


ABOVE: Bartow and his assistant Jon Paden with two salmon carvings. ABOVE RIGHT: Bartow (second from left) had assistance from renowned carvers Joe David, Loren White and Duane Pasco.


“BARTOW DRAWS HEAVILY ONTHE TEEMING WILDLIFE OF HIS PACIFIC COAST HOME.A KEEN OBSERVER OF THERAVENS, COYOTES, EAGLES AND OSPREYS AROUND HIS HOME AND STUDIO, HETAKES GREAT INTEREST INTHE ANIMALS’ MOVEMENTS ANDRESPECTSTHEM ASTEACHERS OF LIFE ANDBEHAVIOR.”


22 AMERICAN INDIAN FALL 2012


ince October 2011, Bartow and others have been working on the poles in a Newport studio where they can be carved flat. The poles have been “a product


of the spirit,” Bartow says. Many people have assisted. Bartow asked Jon Paden, of the Pil- chuk Glass School, to bring his expertise in woodworking, especially old-fashioned join- ery without using glue or nails. Bartow says, “I make things and [Paden] finds out how to put them together.” The tops of the poles have extending parts,


such as the Raven’s wings and the Bear’s arms. Paden designed joinery mechanisms to secure everything to the pole bases. He explains, “the wings of the Raven and the extra parts are not held together by glue or nails. The entire work consists of a series of interworking [parts] – mortise-and-tenon joints – that lock to- gether.” Paden says, “I have done my job right if you don’t know I have done anything at all. My work is unseen.” The cedar tree was secured from re-


nowned carver Duane Pasco, who had the 400-year-old fallen cedar on his property. Pasco and his friends helped transport it from Poulsbo, Wash., to Newport. Then Pasco and fellow expert carvers Loren White and Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth) stripped the bark and helped dress the logs. White spent two days hollowing out the backs of the poles. Paden explains that the core is removed because “a tree grows around a central post axis point. The post doesn’t have flexion so you need to remove the core, which allows the wood to move and


PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE FROELICK GALLERY


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