THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 6, 1996 TAG: 9610040301
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 23 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHYLLIS SPEIDELL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 58 lines
Creative expression may not grow on trees, but Furmifold Phillips is coaxing folk art from an oak stump that otherwise would have been fed to a grinder.
Starting with a gas-powered chain saw, Phillips roughed out the basic shape of his sculpture - a 6-foot-tall thunderbird with a wing span of almost 4 feet.
``I had never done anything like this before, but I had read about some guy who had made totems with a chain saw,'' he said. ``If he could do it, I could do it.''
Phillips, 65, is an Air Force veteran who retired last spring from his machinist job at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. A Cradock native, Phillips and his wife have lived in Churchland's Westwood section for the past 12 years.
Westwood is a quiet community of neatly trimmed yards and tidy brick ranch homes. It is a neighborhood where the garden club's ``yard of the month'' awards are prized honors.
How are his neighbors reacting to a large thunderbird suddenly appearing in their midst? Folks seem to like it, Phillips says.
Dog walkers, joggers and mothers pushing strollers pause to watch him at work. Cars slow down to a crawl to catch a glimpse of an artwork in progress. Neighbors come over to chat while he wields his hammer and chisel, carving out the features of the fierce bird.
Well, not exactly fierce. Even though the huge thunderbirds of some Native American lore are believed to bring thunder, lightening and rain, people in Westwood need not worry. This thunderbird is wearing a large, neighborly grin.
``After our last ice storm, I figured we needed a little good luck, and thunderbirds bring good luck,'' Phillips said.
Two large oak trees that used to grace Phillips' front yard were invaded by beetles and had to be removed. When the second tree was cut down in August, Phillips asked the landscaper to leave a tall stump.
Phillips has some Cherokee blood in his background - ``just enough for the feeling,'' he said - and could not bear to see the tree gone completely.
``I don't think he believed that I was going to carve it, but I did not want to see it go to waste,'' Phillips said.
Although he has been painting in oils since he was 12, Phillips has never before attempted a sculpture. By mid-October, he hopes to have finished carving and painting this one.
``I will paint it thunderbird colors, red, blue, black, and whatever turns me on,'' he said with a laugh.
When the paint dries, the Westwood thunderbird will seem to be arising from a natural stump base around which Phillips is planting white, climbing clematis.
His next project? Well, there is still another tall stump in the front yard. As he views it with a calculating eye, Phillips speculates, ``I love to fish, so I might just carve a fish out of that one.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MARK MITCHELL
Furmifold Phillips carved this thunderbird from a tree trunk in his
yard. The Air Force and shipyard retiree says his neighbors seem to
like it. by CNB