Artist Details
Don Plonka
Ucluelet, BC
Many years labouring in logging camps as a "boom man" enabled Ucluelet, BC woodcarver Don Plonka many free hours to contemplate his environment. Working the log booms meant being close to the sea, thereby influencing his carving by incorporating ocean movement in his work.
Throughout his working day, Don would notice plenty of nice wood going unused that "just needed to be carved."
A self taught carver, Don has been drawing and painting since childhood, so artistic creation has always been a part of his life. Don usually finds his piece of wood first, creating an image from that wood, but he occasionally will have an image in mind beforehand. Don works primarily with yellow cedar.
