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ou ----y A | to CARVES MAINLY FOR FRIENDS Lawrence Davis enjoys life and work: BY JOHN GAST Lawrence Davis of Seagrave is a wood carver, craftsman, artist, a sculpturer, carpenter, carver, painter, furniture maker, nature lover, pidgeon keeper, hunter, friend and good neighbour. He's a "company man,'"- yet completely in- dependent. He's confident of his abilities, yet paradoxically he talks down his craft as 'his foolishness," and tells you he's never produced anything he was completely satisfied with. But most of all, he enjoys life and his work. So- much so, as a matter of fact, that he does his best to keep money out of it. "I don't do this for the PORT PORT PERRY STAR -- money," states Lawrence, "If 1 did, I wouldn't enjoy it anymore."" He admits that money has been the reason behind a few pieces he's created, but-only when nec- PERRY "Wednesday, December 3,1975 -- essary. Like the hundreds of duck decoys he made at 63 cents apiece for Eatons dur- ing the depression. At that time, he said, you were lucky to pick up anything. Now, he carves mainly for friends and neighbours, sometimes asking enough to. cover the cost for a piece of equipment or materials. One piece, for example, paid for a drill press for his well- stocked workshop. 3 Often, he'll donate a piece, SECOND hel SECTION PAGE 17 a i Beautiful, detailed carving \ {re VARY E Ste ERE Y | IEA EEF, Seaayg ' a LE I) like the beaver he presented to a Seagrave Beaver Colony (the junior branch of the Cubs-Boy Scout organiza- tion). Even in Port Perry, many have seen his work perhaps not realizing it. The deer in the local Santa parade were done by Lawrence. Lawrence's love of wildlife and nature is expressed in his wood carving, painting and taxidermy, and became evident when he was a boy of nine or 10, wandering around the back roads of Toronto looking for "dead dogs, cats, birds, or anything I could find". Later, his interest in taxidermy would become a nuisance around the house. Before refrigerators were a household item, fish being prepared for stuffing had to be kept in a foul smelling solution. "She (wife) used to complain about the smell," smiled Lawrence, His beautiful carvings, ranging from birds and ani- mals to signs, have always been a hobby for Mr. Davis. He tried the gift shop circuit once, decided against it, but when he discovered shops were, charging double and triple his price. "This way," he said, "I'm doing it for people I know. It doesn't feel like work." Problem saying "no" Mrs. Davis agrees, but quickly points out that her husband does almost as much as if he were indeed working. Lawrence has a problem with saying '"no" to people, and every item he makes draws at least a couple of more requests for pieces. "He's promised about 50 beavers alone," said Mrs. Davis. ' Mr. Davis has branched out with his carvings since 1972, when he retired from Eatons, after serving the company for over 40 years (his father worked for Eatons all his life as well). ...He was designated a-car-- penter at Eatons, but per- formed duties that far sur- passed the normal job classi- fication and was involved in many creative projects such as making floats, window displays, set designs for the company. He worked on the Santa parade in Toronto for many LF years and some of the larg- est projects he's worked on coming from the annual parade. In one parade, he, built a 16-foot statue of Gulli- ver of Gulliver's Travels. Most of the time, he worked from a small drawing or photograph. It was his job to bring it from the drawing to the real thing. Lawrence's formal artistic education came while he was employed as '"'auxiliary staff" (part time) at Eatons. He won a scholarship at the Ontario College of Art and studied when he wasn't working. He finished three years and got enough exper- ience and instruction to do the window display and other duties he expected to do at Eatons.----- rr He considered his work with the company both chal- lenging and rewarding, but it was the increased pressures of modern business that made the last few years not so pleasant. "There were just too many meetings and: seminars," he said. "I just wasn't interested in that. I just wanted to do my job." But when he retired, the first few months were hard. "I'missed my friends and the activity very much at first," he said. "You get used to it after working for so long with people." But the loneliness didn't last long. After only a few months in Seagrave, there were people - new friends and old - at the house almost daily. "Word got around," said Mrs. Davis. } His craft has not only allowed him to meet many people, it has also provided the spark that's provided life-long friendships. A chance meeting with John David Eaton - former president of the company - when both were young men and employees, led to a life-long friendship. The quiet, somewhat shy Eaton talked "a mile a minute when we were together' but withdrew the minute others arrived," said Lawrence. But when a magazine art- icle printed a rare interview with the private Mr. Eaton, The start of a coffee table Ed os * "Laurie" Davis was listed as one of his few close friends. There's been times when Mr. Davis' easy-going na- ture proved an easy mark for others. Like the time he carved a beautiful antelope head and give it away for $25. The item was later resold for $125, and the seller spread it around that Davis was under contract exclusiv- ely to him. Lawrence's work has end- ed up all over the world. "Word of mouth," said Law- rence. '"Eatons has offices all over the place." Mr. Davis draws it first He's even carved for a Scottish regiment - for a display of Tartans. If you've ever been at the Yorkdale dining room of Eatons, you couldn't have missed Lawrence's work... a series of more than 20 replica weathervanes dating back to 1780, some five feet long. Some of his works can be seen at the Royal Ontario Museum of Zoology. His ability comes to him easily. he said. He's manag- ed to find nothing he hasn't been able to master when it comes to wood carving. On the other hand, he's never perfectly satisfied with any- thing he's done. He's perfectly aware that his craft could provide a lucrative income, yet he'll tell you that he's never been tempted to go into it as a busingss. "I'm a bit like the Ameri- can Indian," he smiled. "I don't go hunting if there's meat handy."