Don West

by Christi Marsico
Tuesday, February 12, 2008 2:48 PM MST

Mystic, inventor, experimenter and sculptor are statures that all accommodate Don West’s nymph wood carvings.

At the heart of West’s wood is the lore of Greek mythology surrounding dryads, also referred to as nymphs, which are female spirits of nature who preside over forests.

According to the Greek mythology surrounding these creatures, each nymph is born with a specific tree to watch over, and their lives are connected to that of the trees; should the tree perish, then the nymph dies with it.

While finding the wood itself beautiful, West looks for a figure in the wood and begins to carve away to “release the spirit from confinement.”

West carefully chooses terminated wood, especially juniper or cedar, because it has ended naturally and survived the harsh winds and cold winters of Wyoming.

By embellishing what nature has provided in this “windwood” that has grown bent, twisted or weathered, West brings to life graceful female forms while developing character and beauty all their own.

“I carve a way that doesn’t alter or change the innate movement of the wood and with these sculptures, there can never be two alike, absolutely cannot because each piece of wood is different,” he said.

“At first when I started doing these, I thought I had discovered a new art. Then I began realizing it was only an extension of the Wyoming wilderness and nature itself.”

Working on many ranches in Wyoming, he majored in sculpture and minored in design at the University of Nebraska, and has shown his wood carvings all over Wyoming and abroad.

West began carving these figures when he was in his early 20s with just a dull pocket knife.

Later on, after experimenting with drummel tools, which would “burn up a $7 bit in 20 minutes” due to the hard wood and the gravel embedded in the wood grain, West continues to favor carving with a pocket knife. He uses sandpaper to smooth the edges and polishes the pieces with brown shoe polish.

Carving over hundreds of these pieces, giving some away and selling several as well, West is personally connected to each piece.

“I grieve over pieces because they’ll never be another one like it,” he noted.

When it comes to the individuality of the nymphs, he’s only titled one, “Eve,” and he seldom carves feet, never carves any hands or faces.

“What kind of face am I going to put on it?” West asked. “They don’t need it, because they do their own speaking without a face.”

His biggest challenge is carving the perfect spirit without destroying the wood.

According to West, he can’t afford to make a mistake, which is one reason the time factor varies in creating one of these pieces.

“I’ve got a pile of mistakes in the basement,” he added.

Finding inspiration in the hills of Wyoming while being fascinated by nature itself, West likes to feel he has “discovered these little things in the tree and brought them back to life.”

According to some Greek myths surrounding these wood nymphs, it is believed they have the power to cause the beholder to become a lover of art and an adamant protector of all creations of nature.

For West, that’s what his lovely ladies are all about.

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