A "Moses" Wood Spirit Carved Walnut Folk-Art Walking Cane with Deer Antler & Turquoise Handle

This walking cane has been sold.

If you are interested in walking cane made for yourself, please email me:

mark@decoustudio.com

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Materials:
Kansas Black Walnut, Kansas naturally shed Whitetail Deer Antler, Turquoise, Abalone Shell, Brass Tip.

Project Story:

First off, I carved this walking cane for myself.

Not that I “need” one, but I was wanting something to carry to art shows, and around “Wal-mart” to advertise my canes, and I wanted a sample to demonstrate the style of walking canes that I am building.

I saw a picture of “Moses” on the front of a book called “Experiencing God” by a man named Henry Blackaby that I have studied through. I really liked that painting of the face of Moses on the cover of the book, and so it inspired the face carving on this walking cane. I also thought that if I carried “Moses” around with me, I might also do better acting out the things that I learned from Blackaby’s book.

A couple of weeks after I had this cane built, a good friend called me on a Sunday morning before church and said that he knew someone that had injured their knee in a fall, and wondered if I had a walking cane that they could use, as they needed something that day.

He told me the height that was needed, and all I had on hand that would fit was the one that I had carved for myself. So, I slowly offered it up as a possibility, not really wanting to turn it loose. My friend said that it was more expensive than they guy needed, but asked me to bring it to church that morning, and he would make sure the person that needed it got it that day.

My friend paid me the money in cash (and yes, I claimed it and paid sales tax on it), and we all sat down for the Worship Service.

I didn’t catch on until after the service while visiting with people, that it was my friend that had fallen down and hurt his knee. We all had a good laugh at how I had been tricked, and I watched “my” walking cane make it’s way out the door that day.

Later, my Friend’s knee improved, and the cane has now become a decoration in their house, so I built the walnut cane stand for him later. Now, “Moses” safely sits by the fireplace and “watches” the room. Their home is filled with wonderfully ornatel carved walnut Victorian-style antique furniture, all except “Moses”, a Maloof-Inspired Rocking Chair I built a couple of years ago, and a coffee table that I rebuilt for them a few years ago. They receive a lot of guests in their home, and I enjoy hearing the stories of what people said about the my projects that they have in their home.

One day I will carve myself another “Moses.”

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this photo was taken without a flash, and better shows the coloring of the cane, but it is a little Fuzzy:

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More Walking Sticks & Canes:
If you go to my Mark DeCou Website you won’t find very many canes pictured there. I do realize that I need to invest in improving my website, but until that is accomplished, here are few more of my canes posted at lumberjocks, thanks for your patience.

Folk Art Face Carved Canes

1. Sculpted Wood Spirit Face Cane
2. Folk-Art Wood Spirit Cane w/ Elk Antler Handle & Scrimshaw
3. Folk Art Mountain Man Face Cane
4. Shamrock Wood Spirit Irish-Theme Face Cane
5. Walnut Wood Spirit Face Cane with Antler & Turquoise
6. Collection of Face Carved Canes
7. Moses-Inspired Face Carved Cane w/ Antler & Turquoise

Native American Theme Canes

1. Folk Art Native American Face Cane Set
2. Apache Chief Cochise Folk-Art Face Cane
3. Folk Art Carved Cane of Shoshone Chief
4. Indian Guides Chief Big-Red-Cloud Hiking Stick
5. Apache Chief Cochise #2 Folk-Art Face Cane

Hand Carved Canes/Sticks

1. Amazing Grace Music Notes Carved Cane
2. A Lady’s Elegant Red Long-Stem Rose Carved Cane
3. Prairie Fire Hand-Carved Hiking Thumb Sticks
4. A Folk-Art Carved Albatross Head & Snake Walnut Cane
5. Carved Folk-Art Walking Cane; 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' Story Stick with Scrimshaw Artwork

Scrimshaw Artwork Canes

1. Walnut & Curly Maple Cane with Scrimshaw
2. Scrimshaw Art Walnut Cane
3. Fancy Barley Twist with Scrimshaw Cane
4. Lady's Dress Cane, Red Oak, Walnut, Black Lacquer, & Scrimshaw Artwork of a Purple Cone Flower

What’s Scrimshaw Artwork?:
A Scrimshaw Art Journey: What it is & How to Do it; Five Simple Steps to Success

Natural Tree/Limb Canes/Sticks

1. Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Cane
2. Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Walking Stick
3. Shepherd's Crook Hiking Stick

Barley Twist Style Dress Canes

1. White Oak Barley Twist Cane
2. Osage Orange Barley Twist Cane
3. Walnut & Figured Maple Barley Twist cane
4. Black Walnut and Spalted Sycamore Barley Twist
5. Red Oak Barley Twist with Black Lacquer
6. Red Oak Barley Twist with Walnut Handle
7. Bryan's Cane, The Start of my Cane Journey

Various Dress Style Canes

1. Fancy Walking Cane, Camphor Burl, Maple, Bubinga, Whitetail Deer Antler, Inlays & Silver End Caps
2. Custom Dress-Up Walking Cane, Walnut shaft with a Camphor Burl Handle
3. Walnut & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
4. White Birch & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
5. Walnut Bamboo-Style Cane with Chrome Ball Top
6. Walnut & Buffalo Horn Dress Cane
7. Bird's Eye Maple Cane
8. Spalted Sycamore Walking Cane
9. Walnut Tall Knob Top Opera Cane
10. Zebrawood & Walnut Knob Top Opera Cane
11. Dress Cane Set, with several Material Options Shown

My Website page with Canes

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I have a few canes in stock at:

1. Hatman Jack’s Wichita Hat Works in Wichita, KS
2. Hutchinson Art Center in Hutchinson, KS
3. Cottonwood Mercantile in Cottonwood Falls, KS

You can contact these gallery stores directly and see what they still have in stock. They will ship to you if you buy something. If you prefer, you can also email me, as I keep fairly current on what is “unsold.”

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Background: My Cane Making Story:

I enjoy sculpting walking canes. Some folks call them Folk-Art Canes, while others call them Artisan Canes, some call them Carved Canes, while others call them Walking Sticks. There is quite a bit of argument about whether something should be called Sculpture or Carving. They could be considered Functional-Art, which is the type of work that I am usually drawn to. No matter what these canes are called, they seem to bring joy to the owners, and I have been asked to make quite a few of them in the past 5-6 years.

I started making canes on the request of a nice married couple I met on a church-building short-term mission trip to Mexico City in the early 1990’s. Several years after our trip, their son-in-law was diagnosed with bone cancer, and so they wanted to get him a specially made cane that he would enjoy using. They had heard from others that I had quit my corporate office job and started doing woodworking full-time. So, they contacted me to make his cane.

Sadly, I also built him a casket, another first for me, about a year later

Since the time I did that first Cane for Bryan, I have enjoyed the work on the canes that I have been able to make, but more importantly, the people that I have been able to meet and help along the journey. I do make a bunch of unique items and furniture, but without a doubt, I receive more correspondence and thank-you cards from cane customers than any of the other items I make, combined. So, they are fun for me to build, and I look forward to each new person and situation.

To keep a handle on all of the memories, I engrave a small serial number on each brass cane tip, and then I keep a detailed database log of each cane, customer, and situation. The list always brings me warm memories each time I scan it and remember the folks that have supported my work over the years, and vice versa.

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(This text, all photos, project design, and anything else you want to steal, is protected by copyright 2008, M.A.DeCou, all rights reserved and protected, ask permission first! Weblinks to this page are permitted)

-- Mark DeCou - Kansas Flint Hill's Artisan