Carving a niche: Retired Creston Farmer has been working with wood since high school

If you ask Clyde Pederson how many pieces of art he’s made, he doesn’t quite have an answer. 

The 82-year-old Pederson has made hundreds and hundreds of works since he was in high school, carving his way through more wood than a team of lumberjacks.

His pace has slowed some, but the former Creston farmer still has his house lined with his accumulated works — sometimes folksy, sometimes irreverent, but always interesting.

“I started in high school, just using a jackknife,” he said. “My first carvings were a ball in a crate and a connected chain.”

He still has those first carvings, all connected and created out of a single piece of wood, sitting next to some of his recent creations.

What’s more, Pederson has never thought about selling his art, instead preferring to give pieces away to friends, family and neighbors.

“I’ve lost count of how many I’ve given away,” he said. “But I’m sure I’ve given more than they wanted.”

Pederson sees something interesting and tries to remake it. He has read books and watched videos on how to make specific pieces. He just wouldn’t feel right selling them, he said. 

However, his most original pieces also happen to be his most beautiful. His “whimsical houses” made out of cottonwood bark show the potential for creativity in the wood with which he works.

“You can’t double one of these,” Pederson said. “The wood dictates the carving. No two are alike.”

The whimsical houses are tiny houses carved into the hollowed-out bark and can be mini-castles and cottages with cut-out windows. Pederson has more than a dozen on the wall of his den. 

He finds all the bark for the houses down by the Old Steel Bridge, where black cottonwoods thrive. A piece would take him around a week during his most productive periods.

Both he and his wife, Jeanine, were born in Kalispell and went to Creston School where they first met. They graduated from Flathead High School and married in 1953. Pederson farmed near Creston for decades, continuing the legacy of one of the Flathead Valley’s first families. Creating things runs in the Pederson family.

“My granddad was the first blacksmith in Kalispell,” he said. “He was the first to move up from Demersville.”

Much like his grandfather working with hot metal, Pederson wears protective gear while working with wood. But instead of wearing thick gloves or a welder’s mask, he wears a thumb guard to avoid chopping it off.

“Blood stains the carving and that’s no good,” he said. “You know you’ve got a sharp knife when you can run it against the grain and get a slice so thin you can see through it.” 

With his knives and his gouges, Pederson has made hundreds of pieces, including more than 300 small wooden boots, dozens of 8-inch-high historical figures and, due to his current location at Village Greens, several golf-related carvings.

His carving speed has slowed some because of shakiness in his hands, but after 51 years of marriage, Jeanine is still happy to clean up her husband’s messes.

“All that carving means a lot of shavings on the floor,” she said. “I get to vacuum after he’s done. It’s really been great, though. People love his work.”

All teasing aside, Pederson’s carvings fill the den, a metal sculpture hangs above their stairway and life-like animal miniatures guard their lairs in the living room to provide talking points, just in case the man with a wicked sense of humor takes a breather.

“I’ve given so many away, I’d be over at someone’s house trying to give them a piece and see they already had one on the shelf or wherever,” he said. “I just don’t know how many I’ve made.”

With two children and four grandchildren, the pieces will be passed down for years to come, ensuring Pederson’s wood carving legacy lives on.

As for his advice to aspiring carvers?

“Always number and date your pieces,” he said. “And keep your knife sharp.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.