THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 10, 1996 TAG: 9605100060
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK ROBERTS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines
WILD, WEIRD and wacky creations brought national renown to the town of Waverly.
They are the made-of-wood creations of the late Miles B. Carpenter, folk artist extraordinaire who died 11 years ago at age 95.
Many of his creations - masterpieces and/or monstrosities - are found in private collections and museums across the country: whimsical snakes, life-sized Indians and happily horrific creatures.
All began as twisted limbs and roots in the woods. Shirley Yancey, president of the museum's board of trustees, said, ``His vision was unbelievable.''
Carpenter's earliest works were displayed on the back of his green pickup truck. Among them was a 200-pound wooden watermelon that brought fame and fortune. It is now the property of the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection in Williamsburg.
Colorful watermelon slices, always with one bite out, became his trademark.
Ann Oppenhimer, president of the Folk Art Society of America, said she met Carpenter in the 1970s, when his work was displayed in Richmond. ``He was such a wonderful person,'' she said, ``funny and unusual, amusing.
Her favorite: a self-portrait in which he's dressed like an Indian. It's in the National Museum of American Art in Washington.
Carpenter's most talked-about piece is Lena Wood, a life-sized, sort-of-sexy young lady who rode around town with her creator.
`` She looked real, and he got a kick out of people thinking she was,'' Oppenhimer said.
``He always said he had a lady with him at all times, and he could say anything he wanted to her and she never back-talked him.''
The carver also had his serious side. One of his pieces shows a GI in Vietnam, carrying a bleeding soldier whose arm is cut off. Another shows three boys - white, African-American and native American - seated together, enjoying a water-melon.
The switch from small town artist to nationally recognized artist came when Jeff Camp of Tappahannock drove by Carpenter's home, saw his work, decided he needed a manager and turned him into a media attraction.
Visitors to the museum Saturday will be able to see some of the crazed carvings that continue to bring smiles. by CNB