Charles has had no formal training in art, but a series of events helped him to discover a natural gift for sculpting in wood. In 1976 Charles and his wife traveled with a group of teachers throughout Europe. While in Barcelona, he wandered into a woodcarving studio. He was fascinated and watched the master carver at work sculpting a horse. He asked, “Sir, how do you go about carving a horse?” In broken English the carver said simply, “Just cut away anything that doesn’t look like a horse” (Of course, as Charles entered the world of woodcarving, he was to hear variations of this stock reply many times over). Charles then purchased several carvings from that shop to be used as gifts. The following summer he borrowed one of the gifts and carved similar renditions of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. They were quite successful, so his wife suggested that he carve a nativity set. To help her wish become reality, for Christmas she bought him his first set of chisels. Charles has been carving ever since, mainly in hardwoods. He has learned the meaning of “sharp” and early on discovered the detail achievable by using a Dremel tool.
When he joined the Woodland Carvers in the early 80’s, the members encouraged him to carve a duck. At that time most of the members were bird carvers, several of them having won national awards in duck carving. Charles carved one duck and decided that painted birds were not his forte. He wanted to appreciate the natural beauty of hardwoods such as walnut, cherry, and Honduras mahogany.
In 1979, when the Smalligans’ first child was born, Charles decided to give up coaching to spend more time at home. He spent more of his time carving, and soon his father Harvey also showed an interest in that form of art. Harvey had just nicely begun carving in 1982 when he was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of lung cancer. From September of that year until his father’s death in 1983, Charles spent much of his available time at the hospital or in the basement carving-“It was therapeutic for both of us. I would return from the hospital and carve until the wee hours of the morning just so that I could show him some progress on the piece the next day. It helped me to keep my mind off the reality of cancer and it usually brought a smile to his face.”
It wasn’t long before Charles realized that he needed a new competitive outlet that sports and coaching had provided in the past. He entered a few carving shows. He always competed in the open division and, at shows, began to pick the minds of some of the top award winners from around the nation including Ray Rusnak, Bud Nobel, and Hersh Westbrook. The best advice they gave was “not to be an hour short.”
He has since developed his own distinctive style and has carved a variety of subjects. He believes that the sculpture should engage the observer as much as the artist. He tries to tell a story with each piece, but he wants the script to be flexible. Charles is not a purist, using only knives and chisels. Rather, he uses any type of tool to achieve the desired result. He loves the warmth and vitality of wood as a medium. His favorite piece is usually the sculpture he is working on, but he has to admit that Horseplay made him “stretch” and in the end gave him a lot of satisfaction. He has won numerous top awards at carving competitions, art shows, and art auctions. Charles still enters an occasional competition to see if he can still hold his own. The last piece entered in competition won first place in sculpture at the annual Art Auction and Competition of The Harness Tracks of America (2004).
Charles continues to carve a variety of pieces for sale, do commissioned work, and to offer carving instruction for students at all levels of ability and experience. His pieces have found their way into many private collections in the USA and other countries.
(This article was last modified on January 8, 2006)
Charles Smalligan was born in 1945 in Muskegon, Michigan. His family moved to Fremont, Michigan, when he was eight years old. He graduated from Fremont High School in 1963, received his B.A. degree (Biology) from Calvin College in 1968, and his M.A. degree (Teaching of Science) from Western Michigan University in 1972. He taught science in the Grand Rapids Public Schools for over thirty-two years and also coached basketball and football at the ninth-grade level. He retired from the Grand Rapids Public Schools in 2000 and has since been giving private instruction in woodcarving. In addition to carving and enjoying retirement, he has taught English in China. In 2003, he worked with Chinese English teachers in Hubei Education College located in Wuhan, China. In 2005, he taught English to doctoral students at Peking University in Beijing, China, and he plans to return to his teaching at Peking University in February 2006. He is married and has three adult children.
