Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far, said Theodore Roosevelt, but so does my hand carved walking stick,” says K K Bheemaiah, the founder of Bheem Styx, who carves walking sticks from deadwood that he collects from forests.
He took to making walking sticks after a friend showed him a hand crafted stick collections. Bheemaiah thought he could make better ones. The 31-year-old, who is based near Madikeri in Kodagu district of Karnataka, has been crafting walking sticks and selling them through social media and local flea markets.
He goes looking for sticks in summer as he does not believe in cutting trees. He then converts them into unique, hand crafted walking sticks, and has made nearly 600 of them since he began in December 2013. These natural sticks are ideal for hikers, walkers, senior citizens, for home decor and for walking stick collectors.
“I have given life to each branch and converted these gifts of nature into walking sticks that are functional pieces of art and are treasured by people who buy them. I allow each design to speak for itself and tell its unique story. They are made for stability in each step, protection or simply as a fashion accessory stick. “Fashion and walking sticks are more popular,” he says.
He sold his first walking stick in 2014 for a “handsome amount of Rs 3,800. Marcus from Austria was so taken with my concept of designing that he purchased two of them. The story behind each stick is what sells the product and I try to explain it in detail to my customers”.
Each of the design is unique, as nature provides only one design of its kind. The price ranges from Rs 500 to Rs 6,000 depending on the kind of wood and the detailing on each stick. Bheemaiah sells 40-60 walking sticks at each flea market. “I feel a thrill when I sell my sticks through Facebook and when people share their photographs on my page. I get calls from adventure clubs for five to six sticks at a time,” he says.
About shaping and carving the sticks, he says, “Sometimes ideas just pop up, very small, crazy ideas after I have walked in the jungle for 30 kilometers collecting them. However, not every stick can be used. Carvings of random faces, ‘spirit faces’, have attracted lot of interest. Making them takes eight months to a year-and-a-half. Creativity flows in bits and pieces and making the spirit faces needs a lot of detailing. We only use natural colours and dyes. When I pick up a stick on my long walks, sometimes I get ideas immediately while sometimes it takes time and it is lying in one corner to be crafted later,” he says.
First, the bark is stripped and the branch is dried in the sun for two weeks. To prevent splitting of the wood, the ends are sealed and the wood is dried again for a few months. “Because of their odd sizes, I sand and shape each stick the way I want. After this, elaborate carving is done, followed by finishing with handles, straps, footings, etc. I like to add accessories to the sticks as I feel it will enhance the beauty of the wood,” he says.
Bheemaiah makes Y/thumb sticks, deep river walking sticks, country walking sticks, decorative and fashion sticks, bell sticks, hook sticks, gadget sticks, city walking sticks, catapult sticks, rattan vine sticks, antique sticks, muscle loader sticks, whip sticks and a host of other varieties.
Bheemaiah has about a dozen artists who are involved in the painting and detailing work as these are quite elaborate and time consuming. He is planning to open a showroom-cum-studio in Bengaluru in a year where people will be able to try their hands at painting the sticks.