Janel Jacobson, known for her netsuke-style small carvings, has received the $100,000 Enduring Vision Award award from the Bush Foundation. Jacobson, of Sunrise, Minn., is one of three artists to receive this new prize, designated for seasoned artists with over 25 years of experience who live in Minnesota, North Dakota, or South Dakota.

The Bush Foundation has been making awards to artists for 32 years. The new grant is unique because it’s so substantial and because it’s dedicated to mature artists. Many awards focus on new or mid-career artists, but program director Julie Gordon Dalgleish told FineWoodworking.com that there is a dearth of funding for artists in the later stages of their career. This new award aims to change that.

For Jacobson, the award “means that I can learn some new skills and add to what I’m doing right now with carving in wood,” she told FineWoodworking.com in a phone interview.

Red Lily. This small sculpture appeared in the Readers Gallery, FWW #193.

A new lathe, training, travel, and more
Jacobson already crafted a solid plan for spending the money. She plans to buy a lathe and get turning lessons to help with her sculpture. A lathe means she’ll have another tool in her arsenal, to better fit lids for carved vessels or help her to open up blocks of wood.

Unturned Vessel. Jacobson only used carving, not turning tools to create this tiny vessel that stands less than 1-1/2 in. high. Since she created it for an exhibit that featured many turnings, she gave it a glib title.

She is also planning a trip to Japan to learn more about netsuke in its country of origin. In addition, she hopes to learn how to incorporate Japanese precious metal alloy into her work, and take more time to organize her archives.

Nature in miniature
Jacobson’s life-like, nature-inspired sculptures are closely aligned with netsuke or centuries-old Japanese mini-carvings used as part of traditional male attire. But, she’s not exclusively a netsuke artist and carves other small-scale sculptures. Her pieces sell for $3,000 to $17,000.

Traditional netsuke carvers used ivory and wood. Jacobson prefers wood. She often uses boxwood, or darker woods such as African blackwood and ebony, and other materials.

A use for sapwood. Jacobson sometimes mixes sapwood and heart wood in one piece for natural contrast, as in this design that uses one piece of pear wood for the pear carving and branches. Click to see the full sculpture.

A meandering career path
While Jacobson focuses on carving now, she actually began her career in pottery. In the mid-1980s she decided to put pottery on hold for two months a year and spend it drawing and carving in porcelain. By 1987, she had quit making pots and begun to carve porcelain full time. But she eventually turned to wood, with its natural warmth, over cold and brittle porcelain.

Jacobson uses a wide variety of tools for her tiny creations, some traditional and some unique. For example, she uses a set that essentially looks like reshaped dental tools that she bought at a science museum gift shop. They were labeled as amateur archeological dig tools but they also work for her carving.

In addition to her own work, Jacobson helps run a forum called The Carving Path. The group aims to help other small-scale carvers.

Still growing
Even though Jacobson has been working as an artist 36 years, her art is not a methodical pursuit. For example, she doesn’t have a single approach to finishing. She uses a variety of finishes and surface treatments, always testing sample pieces to determine what will look right on small surfaces. She colors wood with artist’s oil paints but is still exploring and testing products for esthetics and durability.

Jacobson and her husband are both self-employed artists with a 17-year-old son. The artist life may be fulfilling, but it’s not always lucrative. Jacobson said it can sometimes be challenging to make ends meet between the shows where they sell their work.

“Our hope with this money is to keep it separate from our regular income and expenses so that it will provide a means for my growth and other activities. It could very easily disappear if I put it into our checking account,” said Jacobson.

Minnesota, North Dakota, or South Dakota woodworkers who are interested in applying for a Bush Foundation award should visit the artist program Web site for more information.

Photos courtesy of Janel Jacobson

-Published 6/17/08

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