The Self-Made Man
Written by Mont A. Kuykendall
Carving A Piece Of Sanity Out Of Retirement
What do you do when you finally get where you think you want to be, only to find it’s not what you expected? Retirement. For most it’s the ending point of a lifetime of hard work and dedication, the quiet following the storm. For Jim Liefeld, a long-time resident of St. Louis, the quiet came as quite a shock. But, in this case it also awakened something that had lay dormant for many years, an artist.
“I didn’t know it was going to be so boring,” says Jim as we talk at his home in O’Fallon. His outgoing, energetic personality belies his years. “It was a big change from the responsibilities and fast pace that I was used to.” After working at McDonnell Douglas for 31 years as a Maintenance and Construction Manager, the pace slowed considerably when Jim decided to retire. “I went from overseeing 250 people daily, to only overseeing myself,” he comments. “Something had to give.”
So how does one go from being a bored retiree to one of the area’s most renowned wildlife sculptors? “Well, I didn’t know how to carve, or paint, but decided that it looked interesting so I gave it a try,” he says, laughing. He tells me that the art of wildlife carving dates back to the early 1920’s, and originated in Maryland. “It all started with the Ward Brothers,” he informs me. “They started carving ducks for hunters at their barbershop, when not cutting hair. It’s popularity grew from there, and years later the Ward Museum Of Wildfowl Art was built.”
Admiring the many carvings that adorn his front room, one would quickly ascertain that Jim’s idea of trying something is to master it. On the mantle stands a bald eagle, fully two feet in height and so real in it’s detailing that I have to touch it to be sure it’s wood and not just a very stiff bird. “That eagle took me nine months to do,” Jim confides. A variety of fish, ducks, birds and other animal wildlife carvings fill curios around the room, signs of a perfectionist’s hand are abundant in the workings. “I have stopped counting the number of pieces that I have done,” he voices, “but it’s in the hundreds.” After learning from Jim the time required to fully complete a single piece and seeing the volume of work displayed in the surrounding cases, I realized that what he has accomplished in only eleven years is staggering.
“I began carving in 1997, just after retiring,” he says reaching for one of the carvings, a duck. “This was my first piece.” The detailing of the piece is amazing, especially when considering that it constituted a first effort. “I started carving at the St. Charles Wood Carving Club. We would meet once a month, and we had around 30-40 members at the time,” he remembers. “That’s when I caught a lucky break. A guy who was really good at carving ducks took the time to show me the ropes, or feathers as it were.” What resulted were one-on-one training classes between the two of them. “We each took a piece of wood, and then sat opposite each other at the table,” Jim continues. “By mimicking him, and him showing me some key points, I was able to learn the techniques that most people would spend 15 years or more trying to master.”
Jim leads downstairs to his workshop. Shelves and cabinets display more of his work. The room’s walls are adorned with hundreds of red, white and blue ribbons – mostly blue. A huge number of accolades considering the short amount of time that he has been carving. “At this point I have won about 250 awards, but that’s not why I do it,” he says looking around the room. “For me it’s the excitement of creating something, then making it better the next time.”
As we walk through his work area, I am introduced to a wide variety of tools. A wood burner, chisels, several power drills, with every bit known to man, or so I thought. At one point Jim retrieves a small vial and approaches me, smiling. “Know what these are?” he asks. To me, and I would imagine most other people, they looked like extremely small, thin pieces of metal. “These are dental drill bits,” he continues. “I got some used ones from my dentist, made an adapter for the power drill, and now I can get a very fine detailing that wasn’t possible with conventional drill bits.”
Innovation seems to be Jim’s middle name. Where most people would be satisfied with learning the art of carving, Jim seems intent on finding ways to make it better. “I got the idea while I was in the dentist office having an impression done of a fish head,” he says. The look on my face must have said it all. Fish head impressions at the dentist’s office? He bursts out laughing. “I was getting a crown done, had a mouth full of the stuff they use for making impressions of teeth, and suddenly I had an idea.” He reaches to the shelf nearby and hands me, you guessed it, a fish head. Well, a very detailed impression of one, anyway. “My doctor was kind enough to do the impression for me. We filled it with plaster, let it harden and ended up with a very real depiction of a fish head,” he finishes. Which bears out the question…why? “Well, I was trying to show some of the carvers at the club how to do detailing on fish,” he replies. “Just seemed like it would be a great way to show them some of the finer details. Besides, it’s easier than using a real fish, and smells a lot better too,” Jim concludes, still laughing.
It is also important to note that carving the wood is just the beginning in the process that Jim utilizes in creating his artwork. Burning highlights into the wood for texture, and painting for realism are a big part of it too. “When I started out, there were very few paints designed specifically for wood working,” he relates. “I was using paints designed for doing taxidermy. I noticed that when used on wood, the colors were not as realistic as what I was trying for.” His solution? Jim contacted the owner of Lifetone, a St. Louis-based paint company. “I suggested developing a line of paints geared specifically to wood carvers. Ones that would appear more life-like when applied to a wood product.” They began targeting the wood carving industry soon after, based on Jim’s advice. Over the next few years Jim worked closely with the company, helping to create and add a variety of new colors to the company’s product line. “It worked out well for both of us,” he comments. “We got the colors we were needing, and in return I demonstrate their product line during workshops and at many of the competitions and conventions that I attend.”
Weekends find Jim on the road, traveling to one convention or another. “It keeps me busy, and more important, it keeps me sane!” he says. “Tomorrow I head to Dansville for a show, and next weekend I will be in the Chicago area.” Anyone who gets the chance to attend a show will marvel at the talent Jim demonstrates, and the beautiful details in the carvings of his art.
“Don’t get me wrong,” he says meekly, “I am still amazed by the work I see some of the artists doing. And it makes the competition tough. I travel to meets almost every weekend now, and there is some great talent out there,” he comments as he shows me his latest carving. Called “The Self-Made Man”, it depicts a man carving himself out of the wood with chisel and hammer. “I used my own dimensions in creating the man,” he says. “I thought it would be fun to put something of myself into it.”
I wasn’t surprised by his comment. Jim has been married for over 44 years, and has three children, two girls and a boy. He has built every one of his houses over the years, including his current home in O’Fallon. He spent three decades in a position of responsibility managing, directing and inspiring the hundreds of people working under him. I would have been more surprised to find that there is anything that Jim has done in his life that he didn’t put 100 percent of himself into. “I think you should always try to improve on the things that you do, “ Jim concludes. “Otherwise, what’s the point?”
Like the artwork he produces, Jim is chipping away at the wood of his life and trying to carve a little bit of sanity out of retirement. At a time when most people slow down, Jim is just getting started, and reinventing himself in the process. Chips fall under the skilled hands of the artist revealing what lies beneath the surface, and the form is easy to recognize. He simply is — the Self-Made Man!