Lowell Torkelson

Lowell was born on a farm north of Kerkhoven, Minnesota, and his Norwegian heritage was at the center of his childhood and upbringing. His parents spoke Norwegian when visiting his aunts and uncles and Lowell picked up bits of the language himself. He traveled to Norway with his family in 2005 and again in 2008 to visit his great-grandparents’ home region and was enamored with some of the artwork he saw there. He had some previous experience with woodcarving, but when he received a book about flat-plane carving as a gift, it sat on a shelf for years. He didn’t pick it up again until after retiring, at which point he decided carving might be worth pursuing. 

He began with an introductory course in acanthus carving with Else Bigton and Phillip Odden of Norsk Wood Works in Barronett, Wisconsin, “So that I wouldn’t pick up any bad habits,” he says. Shortly after his first class he took another in Scandinavian flat-plane carving at the Milan Village Arts School in Minnesota and later studied at Vesterheim in Decorah, Iowa. Lowell’s repertoire now has a range of Nordic styles like carving kubbestols, and non-Nordic styles such as relief carving and wood burning.

The carving club Lowell regularly participates in offers another avenue for expanding and refining his skillset, in addition to a space to meet with friends and compare projects. As Lowell says, “Probably more people that come to woodcarving club are sort of trying to learn and see different things.”
The club sometimes hosts other artists to teach classes, which is often less expensive than traveling to attend a class at a folk school or other center.

That way it’s a lot cheaper, you don’t have to pay for housing. And usually they don’t charge very much when they come to the local club. It’s a fun hobby, it costs a little bit of money, but it’s probably a lot cheaper than fishing where you got to buy a $20,000 boat.

While some carvers immerse themselves in one style, others like Lowell prefer to broaden their repertoires in different styles and techniques. Since that first class in the acanthus style, he has taken classes in many Nordic carving styles such as kolrosing, flat-plane carving, and kroting (among others).

Mastering these varied techniques requires patience, persistence, and a lot of practice.When asked about his expansive repertoire of styles, Lowell comments that, “Well, it’s fun to learn something different.” This curiosity has motivated him to continue taking classes and refresher courses.

While he has experience in a range of styles, much of Lowell’s work has been in acanthus and flat-plane carving. The two are very different techniques, though both have a long tradition of practice in Norway. Lowell says that he hasn’t adapted his technique too much, though will occasionally use a gouge when carving flat-plane– even though it is usually done with a knife.

This choice of tool is one example of how each carver develops their own style over time. An individual style comes with practice. After gaining experience, carvers might even find revisiting their early work a bit entertaining. 

LT: .. I could point out some mistakes, but a carver should never point out your mistakes.

JW: Hah, yeah, don’t betray any of your trade secrets there.

LT: The more carving you do, the more you realize how your older pieces probably didn’t look so good. It’s sort of a joke in carving class, ‘this is a five-footer.’ It looks good at five feet, probably not so good at one foot.

When Lowell does flat-plane carving he often follows others’ patterns, but sometimes carves a figure based on an image or photograph. He explains, “It’s called flat-plane carving because it’s a series of flat planes that give it the illusion of being round.”
To start a project he takes a square piece of wood, roughly 2.5 inches square by 5 inches. He then cuts two sides out on the bandsaw and carves it in the round.