CARVERS
Sarah Ann Robertson Daniels- Kwakiutl Wood Carver
My name is Sarah Robertson Daniels, and I am 26 years old. I was born in Nanaimo, B.C. I have been carving for twelve years, but before that I used to work for my dad Alfred Robertson. I did the finishing on his carvings for him including sanding, staining and polishing and shining all of his carvings for him. As I got older, I began to carve myself, first a little at a time doing little things and then moved to bigger plaques as my carving got better as my father told me to do. So I began to do a variety of things such as plaques, totem poles, bowls, masks, talking sticks, and steamed bent wood boxes. I was taught mostly by my father Alfred Robertson who had been taught by his father William Robertson, my grandfather. I never thought that I would ever be a carver as a career, but the work that I did for my dad rubbed off on me, now I am a carver just as generations past before I was, and the rest of my family who has decided to do this craft. So far though, I am the only one of my dad's children to become a carver feel that it is very rewarding to express my culture through my carving and will continue to do it for a long while to come.
Danny Daniels & Sarah Robertson Daniels
A little known fact of Sarah's carving style is that it is all inner line work and therefore considered one color. In traditional Kwakiutl design this means that each line cannot intersect and close off another line. This means that one could put their finger on an "uncarved" part of the design and trace a route throughout the entire design with out lifting off the finger or crossing over a line. There are only two parts where this is not true, on the eye and the joints of the animal. This also means that Sarah must take extra care not to carve a line too far off the piece of wood. This is not like painted versions at all as they require that the carved lines that encompass every color must be completely enclosed .
