CHENNAI: In his small, hole-in-the-wall shop at Kodambakkam, Sam Arun is seen at work; sitting down with his right leg stretched out for better balance, chipping wood with his carving tools. Though busy, woodcarvers like him have had a major fall in business for the past couple of decades due to wood carving machines like CNC. But, there is a silver lining.
“Those who know art and appreciate a handicraft or need perfection in the art work have realised that machines cannot satisfy those needs. Customers sometimes bring a machine-carved item and ask us to give it proper finishing. They tell us ‘it’s not good enough’,” smiles Sam who has been carving wood for the last 17 years.
With no formal training, he became interested in woodcarving when he was 18 while watching a friend at work. He was captivated and asked for a job there. “I worked for a year, observing and learning the ways and techniques. The beautiful carvings that a few tools can create are fascinating. Soon, I moved on to other workplaces and in 2007, I decided to begin my own business,” he recalls. It was a huge step and a massive responsibility as he had just entered wedlock and machines were beginning to take control swiftly.
“When I started, I would get 10 doors from a single contractor, but now getting just one is a huge deal,” he avers, and shows us his carving tools. “This is the first set of tools that I bought 18 years ago and I’m still using them. These 35 different-sized tools were 9 inches long when I bought it; it’s now 5 inches. They have been my means of livelihood since I began to work.”
Though there are times when no work comes to his table, Sam continues to dream about setting up a bigger woodcarving studio someday. “This is an art and people will realise its’ worth. My love for carving will never perish and I show my son the beautiful craft too — not as work, but as a hobby, an art.”