THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 30, 1995 TAG: 9508290120
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: EARNING A LIVING IN VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: BY LORI A. DENNEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Carl Moen's goal this year is to introduce 1 million people to an art form he's practiced for 25 years.
He's already taught a couple of hundred folks how to meticulously glue strips of wood together to form a hanging sculpture.
Moen, 39, has even coined and gotten a trademark for the name of the process, Toothcher, the art of toothpick sculpting.
His work will be displayed in the lobby of Norfolk International Airport for three months beginning in October.
``I wanted to give America an art form I've enjoyed for 25 years,'' said Moen, a Princess Anne area resident. ``Even if I have to give it away.''
Actually, Moen is giving the process away, or at least the details of construction. He's spent the past several months teaching folks at nursing homes, private institutions and even a prison how to perfect the toothpick art.
With the help of Maine toothpick manufacturer, Forster, Moen spends several hours each week volunteering to spread the word about toothpicks art.
The toothpick company provides Moen and his students with free toothpicks and also donates the glue that holds the sculptures together.
It has even bought Moen's one basic design and printed a project sheet outlining how to assemble or attempt a sculpture. The project sheets are free in craft stores and from Moen.
The toothpick sculpting technique itself is basic. It starts with toothpicks being glued to a border of round reed. After that it's toothpick after toothpick.
The materials are also simple and cheap - wooden dowels for a frame, a piece of round reed, small or large toothpicks and glue that dries clear.
Moen uses small, flat toothpicks for his sculptures, but for beginners he recommends ``craft toothpicks'' because they're bigger and easier to handle.
About 1,500 toothpicks make up a typical home-size sculpture.The hanging sculptures have been sold for $20 to $150, mostly to friends or others who have stumbled across Moen and his unusual art.
An everyday grocery store box contains about 750 toothpicks and costs between 40 and 50 cents, says Moen.
Moen has created gigantic hanging toothpick mobiles, like the one he made for his mom back in North Dakota. The creation was made of more than 3,000 toothpicks and was 3 feet long and 2 feet wide. It took about 40 hours to create, Moen said.
Moen also plans to produce a how-to video on his work that he hopes local craft shops and libraries will stock. It should be out by October.
He's also been talking with two mail-order companies about selling the video and talking to craft book publishers about including the art in other crafts books.
Moen has taught his craft at the Seton House, Portsmouth Pines Psychiatric Center, Barry Robinson Center, Westminster-Canterbury, and at St. Brides Correctional Center in Chesapeake.
``One way to introduce the process as an art was to have it perceived as a form of art therapy,'' said Moen, who works full time as a manufacturing manager. ``I know how therapeutic it is for me.''
Moen said the repetitive nature of the work, as well as the finished hanging product, all lend to its therapeutic qualities.
``It's even relaxing to look at hanging,'' he said. ``The way it casts shadows on the wall and it flows nicely. It's something to fill the void spaces in offices and homes.''
Moen started gluing toothpicks together in art class at age 13.
``With the long winters in North Dakota there wasn't a whole lot of things to do,'' he said. ``The hand becomes an extension of the mind up there.''
Over the years, Moen has been happy to teach anyone who was interested in the art he cultivated.
Through his business, Moen Designs, which trades as the Toothcher, he hopes to teach classes in his home and other places for a small fee. MEMO: The Toothcher can be reached by calling 471-3643.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Carl Moen's sculptures are made with toothpicks, an art he teaches
to inmates at St. Brides Correctional Center in Chesapeake.
by CNB