After 40 years, Labrador artist John Neville putting away carving tools

A Labrador carver who has been creating some of Labrador's finest sculptures has called it quits.

John Neville of Happy Valley-Goose Bay has been crafting with his hands for four decades. From wood to whalebone, soapstone to marble, Neville put his soul into each of his pieces.

Neville says as of late, there doesn't seem to be any support for Labrador artists, so he's ready to put down his carving tools for good. 

He told Labrador Morning recently that the "bottom went out of it."

"It's like I lost the will to want to go at it. I couldn't sell any carvings at all," he said.

"A lot of Labrador art places are shut down, and I don't think there's much art moving here in Labrador right now. I was all set up here, and I had this place full of carvings."

Neville said he made a good living for eight years, and built up his business. To pay the bills, this past summer he started work in the construction industry.

"I was eight years living off my art. I was selling a bit of stuff, and I'd buy good tools. I ended up in the end of it buying good gear, expensive gear [that] I had come in from the United States ... so I was making enough to keep it all going," he said. 

Carving since 17

When Neville first began carving, he lived on Black Tickle Island, which is located in southern Labrador.

In those formative years, he said all the carvings were made from wood — which he sourced from the local wharf.

"There was no wood there on the island. But when the old CN boats came in, and if you saw a nice pallet down on the wharf, I'd grab it ... get the wood out of it. Some it was birch, some of it was oak, and you could see yourself making some beautiful carvings out of it, said Neville.

"Back in them days, I used to give away the carvings, [because] I didn't think there was any value. But then a few years later, I started charging and selling a few. I done a lot of teaching in the schools, doing a lot of demonstrating on the boats, when I was travelling with the wood carvings. I went a long way with the carvings, 40 good years." 

Incentive

Neville loved his craft, but he had a huge incentive: staying away from alcohol.

"I don't mind saying it, but I'm a recovering alcoholic," he said. 

"It was the best AA ever I had in my life. It kept me sober, it kept me straight and [I] made a real good, honourable man out of myself."

Neville said he grew up in a very poor family and was raised in an orphanage — but he credits hard work and being self-taught as part of the reason he stayed at his art for so long. 

"My mother raised up a bunch of children, she raised two to three families, a lot of children. And we had to teach ourselves to do everything. There was a lot of good stuff that came out of all this carving for me ... it done a lot for my life," he said. 

A lot of Labrador art places are shut down, and I don't think there's much art moving here in Labrador right now.- Labrador carver John Neville 

"I used to work 15 to 16 hours a day carving, and I didn't even know where the time went ... and I'd get lost in it. I wouldn't even feel myself hungry. I wouldn't even come in and get a drink of water sometimes."

Neville said this is the first winter that he's not carving, but perhaps this is not the last we'll hear about his talents.

In his workshop, Neville still has a large number of carvings, and there are boxes everywhere, filled with his art. He said he'll take some time to clean up a bit, but his working life is not yet finished. 

"I'm making a banjo now, so that can tell you that I'm not finished. I'm not finished working — but I'm finished carving."