by Deirdre Dwyer
If you have been to Uprooted Cafe in Musquodoboit Harbour, you’ve probably seen the carved birds near the cash register by the woodcarver and mentor David Shuman. And you may have gotten to talk to Dave, who often lunches at his granddaughter’s café and does a little public carving next to the display of his work.
One afternoon in April, I visited with Dave and his wife Edyth, who gave me a tour of his basement woodshop. “I started woodcarving when Don Withers offered a course in 1985 or ’86,” David said. “I stuck with it because I like doing it.”
The benches and shelves are crowded with carvings, paints, patterns, wood disks, chisels, burning tools, and works in progress, both his and his students’. Hanging from the shelves are wads of paper patterns of birds and other items to carve. In the next room are his band saw, several walking sticks, more equipment, and wood. Dave was working on a cardinal, soldering on its metal feet. “It took me about two days to make,” he said. He showed me how he burns the pattern of feathers onto the body of a bird.
Dave and Edyth estimate that he has had at least 300 students over the years, ranging in age from 9 to 70, with new students joining him still. The school bus stopped daily at the bottom of his driveway to drop off students after school. “The adult students come in the morning,” Dave said. “And I’ve taught woodworking at Oyster Pond Academy and Eastern Shore District High.”
On the wall, he points to a picture of many terns he carved as decoys to get the real birds nesting again. “I made these terns for the Department of Environment for a location on the South Shore,” Dave said, “and I’ve done similar carvings for other areas and organizations.” Dave likes carving little birds, but he’s done bigger project. “I like the smaller ones,” he said. “I like chickadees. But I’ve carved a swordfish too, about four feet long.” Taking a block of wood in his hand, he showed me how he makes the body of a bird, and then add the bird’s head from another piece. He’s also made musical instruments. Upstairs, he showed me a violin. “Dr. John Fraser and I each made one in the winter of 2004,” he said.
Dave and Edyth have done decades of community work through the United Church, Harbour Lites, and other organizations. Dave was deeply involved in area hockey, helping to build the rink in the early 1970s, when hockey players had to go all the way to Lantz to practice. He and Tom McInnis started an Old Timers’ Men’s Hockey league, and Dave was the referee-in-chief for Eastern Shore Minor Hockey for many years.
Dave and Edyth have some special associations with the Christmas holidays. In 1990 Edyth, Dave, Norma and Adrian Blanchette founded the Old-Fashioned Seaside Christmas with twelve vendors who received over 700 visitors to their shops and studios. Seaside Christmas has continued as a great festive event with many more vendors and visitors.
Each year for Christmas, Dave and his students carve and raffle off a Nativity scene, with proceeds going to a local charity. He has carved 70 different kinds of Santas, but my favourite of Dave’s creations are his comfort birds, which nest in a basket at Uprooted Cafe. He got the idea from one of his carving magazines. The smooth small birds fit comfortably into the palm of your hand. Proceeds from their sale go to Eastern Shore Mental Health and the Musquodoboit Harbour Food Bank.
