Otis and Clem are cousins who live in that magical place of Hillbilly Haven built in the corner of imagination. They like their corn squeezins to complement their easy going life style of simpleton understanding. Once following a night of nursing at their respective jug, a big rain storm caused a flash flood that left Otis on one side of the creek and Clem on the other. When the rains stopped with the dawn of a new day, they awoke to see each other divided by a wide span of water. Otis hollers to Clem on the opposite bank asking, “How can I get to the other side?” Ever so slow of wit, Clem responds, “You’re on the other side.”

These two carvings of Otis and Clem tell many other imaginary stories if one would only listen to them, so study each photo to listen and observe what each carving will tell.

The photo with three figures is a “visual tutorial” with two completed carving on either side of a partially carved figure for comparative observation. The figure in the middle has the hat and head carved to basic form and line drawings of the Rule of Three of Body Proportions (red horizontal lines) and the major landmarks of the figure (black lines) drawn as guidelines for carving the body to basic form.

While the Otis and Clem are similar yet each possesses a subtle difference when comparing each carving with the other. But then cousins do tend to look alike in many ways while maintaining a unique personality of their own.

Each is carved in an inch and half square by six inch tall basswood block and finished with artist oil paints thinned with boiled linseed oil with a finish coat of Deft applied after the oil has dried for a couple of days.  There is great advantage in carving the same subject several times because each is a learning experience that will teach lessons for carving the next one.  Such an approach follows the proven rule that “the more one carves the better one carves.”  Otis and Clem are good teachers.