B2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 22,1984
Former dairy farmer delights in woodcaiving
BY BARBARA RADER
JAMESTOWN - John Van
derstappen and his wife, Ann,
recently moved to the outskirts of
Jamestown, not far from Adam
sville, where they had originally
been dairy farmers. Giving up his
“Dutch Dairy” of approximately
40 black and wlute milking cows
and going into semi-retirement,
John hopes to pursue his hobby of
woodcarving in his new home.
Still a farmer at heart, John is
leasing his 200-acre farm to a
young man with the dream of
becoming a devoted dairy farmer,
a dream John once had himself.
John hopes that selling his cows
and equipment and leasing his land
to the young man, Jeff Raney, is a
good move for both parties,
allowing each to pursue his own
interests.
John came to the United States
in 1951, immigrating from Holland
after his family’s farm was
destroyed during World War 11. He
and his brothers separated, each
going his own way. With the help of
one of his brothers in the United
States, John obtained sponsorship
to work in a nursery near Chicago.
Watching Dutch soldiers whittle
to help pass the long hours in the
barns during the war provided
John with the knowledge he needed
to become a woodcarver.
Although he started wood
carving only three years ago, John
plans to expand his craft in his new
home. Downstairs he is working on
making a special room just for his
John stands beside some of his finished work on display. A price tag is added for
people interested in purchasing his work.
The same picture is shown here in three different stages of work, but each will be
unique when completed. The special Dutch home and windmill are one of John's most
popular offerings. At top left the picture is etched out on the wood. In the center it is
carved with the stain added and in the bottom portrait the varnish is added.
hobby. Because of the dust he
creates while hand sanding, he
hopes to make his wife’s cleaning
duties easier by confining the dust
to one room.
Spending at least eight hours
each day on his hobby, John works
with butternut, catalpa or bass
wood.
“You’ve got to have good wood
or you’ll have lots of knots in bad
wood, making it harder to carve,”
John says. “I like to buy my own
trees, a whole tree at one time, and
go to the sawmill nearby to do my
cutting.
“Takes about two years for the
wood to dry to use for good
woodcarving work,” he adds.
The dozen or more figunnes
sitting on the mantle represent
John’s first work.
But because he cut himself so
many times while whittling them,
John, who bleeds easily, turned his
talents to woodcarving.
John uses very sharp knives
which he orders specially and
sharpens each one himself. As his
work progresses, he purchases
additional knives to make his work
easier.
To highlight his work, John uses
a special woodbuming knife,
various colors of wood stains, and
very little white paint. He tops off
these touches with a finishing coat
of varnish.
“Staining and carving is what
the folks want,” he says, adding
that animals, birds, covered
bridges, houses and windmills are
the most popular pieces.
“I like to do cows. That’s what
I’m most familiar with,” he says.
“The farmer is always pleased
with the cows I’ve done."
John recently completed an
order for a well-known Holstein
breeder in the area and has a
number of orders waiting to be
filled as soon as his new workroom
is completed.
Two of the works hanging in his
display will be packed and mailed
to Germany to fill still another
order. John has distributed his
woodcarvings in about 15 states,
going as far south as Florida, west
to California, and north to Alaska,
with some going into Canada. He
advertises by word of mouth and
by attending a few craft shows and
community fairs.
John is determined to have his
customers pleased with the
woodcarving he does for them.
“You give me a picture or a
photo, and I’ll try to make what
you want,” he says.
Each of his pieces carries his
special insignia - his name written
in his native Dutch tongue. He
added this special touch after a
customer who had purchased one
of his works asked him to sign it.
No two pieces of his work are
identical, even though he has made
many pictures of quail, covered
bridges, Dutch home and windmill.
Each one is slightly different.
John says he tries to avoid
making cats and dogs because
people are too attached to their
11-
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John Vanderstappen carves one of his pieces from a piece
of wood, demonstrating the use of his special carving tools.
pets and expect the finished car
ving to be an exact replica of their
animal. However, he does make a
beagle dog’s head and a few cats
just to display, and he will sell
them to interested customers.
John always works on at least
three pieces at a time, with each
piece in a different stage.
Sometimes he etches the drawing
on one solid piece of wood, and
other times he pieces it together,
homestead
dotes
, m
gmg
. A friend painted this picture of John working for him to
hang in his studio. Here it is shown with the photo album he
keeps of his work.
but you can’t tell the difference.
He has worked with very small
pieces and bigger pieces of up to
six feet long.
He uses glue only when piecing
wood together or when making
eyes for his animals to give them
an even more lifelife appearance.
Making his carvings look as real
as possible is John’s goal.
Customers prefer the carvings to
(Turn to Page B 4)
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