Artist carves from the heart

Although many in the Capital region may not know Matthew Welter's name, many should be familiar with his work.

Welter is a long-time wood sculpture turned teacher who operates Timeless Sculptures, the working studio and apprentice guild that prominently stands out at the junction of highways 395 and 50 at the south end of Carson City.

The 42-year-old Southern California native called North Lake Tahoe his home for many years until development and high real estate prices for his Kings Beach studio drove him to the present location. The move has ultimately served to expand his woodcarving business, and opportunities to sell wood sculptures.

"I used to rattle people in Incline Village, now I make my statements in wood," Welter said of his one-time hobby of rousing political figures in the pages of the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza newspaper. "I've been very happy with this space. The people of Carson City are great."

Although the studio is housed in a former auto shop, indistinct in its bland metal construction, the wood sculptures do a lot to dress it up. Passers-by gawk at statues, carved from chain saws and chisels, that often stand 15 feet. Even from the road, the talent of Welter and the artists who work under him shines.

"In these days when you can cast almost anything, wood is becoming a credible medium," Welter said of the towering masterpieces. "We have a good customer base that supports us, and friends like the Brewery Arts Center that keep us going."

As long as Welter can remember, he has been an artist, and his most fascinating medium has been wood.

Before the age of 5, Welter's parents told him, he would sculpt using the mud from the yard of his Camino home. As he got older, he picked up on wood, invested his meager savings in wood chisels, and eventually met his mentor, Chip Fyn.

Fyn, who Welter credits as one of the first chain-saw sculptors, enthralled the young artist, who pestered him until he allowed Welter to work in the shop, sweeping up sawdust.

"I saw him at an art show when I was 12 years old, making life-size sculptures, stuff I'd never seen before," he said. "Eventually, he taught me for a dollar an hour."

To pay for his "education," Welter raised bees and sold honey. That is also how he paid for chisels, the cornerstone tool in woodworking. But it wouldn't be long before Welter set out on his own, honing his own style of work, and managing his own business.

When he was 16, Welter opened the Wooden People Shoppe in a small shopping center. Even though he did not yet have his driver's license, and needed rides from his mother, he was selling his work, and building a reputation that "made more money than any kid deserves to have."

At 19, he hit the open road. He traveled by train and motorcycle, and scraped enough money to keep going by producing small wooden sculptures. He always carried his trusty chisel kit, a guarantee that just about anywhere he stopped, he would have a living, however small.

After awhile, Welter was commissioned by a wealthy customer to build a large-scale rendition of the Lord's Supper, a project he worked on for years, but never finished because of the customer's unexpected divorce and financial upheaval.

Eventually Welter landed in Lake Tahoe. Signs of the 11 years he spent there can be seen all around the lake. The sculptures adorn many yards of lake homes. Many of those sculptures were made of dead trees from the drought of the late 1980s.

Coming to Carson City has been a blessing for Welter, he said. The Brewery Arts Center gives him, and the revolving group of artists in the apprenticeship, low-cost rent in a West Carson City home. With a successful business selling the sculptures, freedom has allowed Welter to turn more to what he loves, carving from the heart.

"I feel like a wet cat when I'm not carving," he said. "Passion is what makes you do this."