歪歪漫画

BLACKDUCK 鈥� On a beautiful property just south of Blackduck, local carver Frank Bera creates a unique variety of art that is always popular at the Blackduck Woodcarvers Festival.

Frank and his wife, Linda, are celebrating 44 years of marriage and side-by-side collaboration as Linda often paints and provides other artistic touches to Frank鈥檚 carvings.

鈥淢y dad was a carver,鈥� Frank said. 鈥淲hen I was about 16, I started for real. I went to the Woodcarvers Festival as a tourist, and my wife said, 鈥榊ou can do this.鈥欌��

Jim Schram, the 鈥淔ather of Blackduck Woodcarving,鈥� approached Frank and said, 鈥淭ell your dad to get his butt up here.鈥�

The next year, Frank convinced his dad, Jon Bera, to set up their first booth in 2000. Frank aided his dad in 2001 before starting to add his own work.

Jennifer Parker / Blackduck American

鈥淲e had a booth together for seven or eight years,鈥� Frank added, 鈥渁nd I鈥檝e continued on my own.鈥�

Though Jon passed away in 2017, Frank has continued his work and expanded his booth at the Blackduck Woodcarvers Festival.

This year鈥檚 event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 27, at the Blackduck Wayside Rest. The fun continues with the Annual Judy and Shannasey Talent Show, which takes place at Blackduck High 歪歪漫画 beginning at 6 p.m.

Among thousands of wood carvings, demonstrations, food and general camaraderie, Frank will set up shop.

In his outdoor workshop, Frank is surrounded by the tools of his trade with a bandsaw to carve out figures from what others may see as simple blocks of wood. Frank, however, envisions works of art.

In his process of carving hair on a figurine, Frank switches tools often for different effects. He uses a wood burner to add depth and bring out the natural shading of layers of hair, then uses watered-down paints to preserve the appearance of the wood grain.

While working, he is surrounded by sketches of current and future projects, saving even the smallest of scraps for the things he envisions for other projects. He may carve the scraps into the tiniest of figures, including two miniature wizards 鈥� smaller than his pinky finger that he shakes into his hand from a very small pill bottle to show.

鈥淧eople ask what鈥檚 the smallest thing I鈥檝e carved,鈥� Frank said. 鈥淵ou never know what you might create with a tiny piece of scrap from another project.鈥�

Like his booth at the Woodcarvers Festival, Frank鈥檚 workshop is full of his projects including a wide variety of diamond willow walking sticks, chicken pencils, shelf sitters, animals, caricature carvings, Christmas ornaments, novelty spoons, bottle stopper corks, statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, Uncle Sam, wizards and gnomes among several others.

Among the most interesting of his pieces are those constructed from cottonwood bark 鈥� a technique he picked up from carver Rick Jensen 鈥� best used for sculpting human faces and whimsical houses.

For many years, Frank has been involved with 鈥淩endezvous鈥� clubs, which often host events that reenact the American fur trade era of the 1840s. One such event is when he first started carving primitive pencils, namely his 鈥渃hicken pencils.鈥�

鈥淚t is a scissor-cut technique,鈥� Frank said as he demonstrated. 鈥淚t is a totally controlled cut. Then I begin to chip away at the rooster comb. The interior is graphite because it is safer than lead.鈥�

Jennifer Parker / Blackduck American

Amazingly, the rooster begins to take form in less than a minute of work.

Frank started the Rendezvous in Albert Lea, from which he moved to Blackduck, and he still returns there for their event in September and October each year. He also attends a fall show in Pine River and the Bemidji Hangfires event each June.

Frank also sets up his booth during the Fall Color Fest and a few winter weekends at Buena Vista Ski Area. He is an active member of the Bemidji Woodcarvers, which meets from 9 a.m. to noon every Wednesday at the Bemidji Senior Center. Many talented artisans visit to teach classes including Rick Jensen, Karen Spotts, Janet Cordell and Desiree Hajny.

鈥淲e are able to get grants to have them come in and teach new techniques, mediums or project ideas,鈥� Frank noted. 鈥淲e recently got a grant for using colored pencils in woodcarving. Now our job is to prove to them that we can really use colored pencils as a medium in our work.鈥�

Frank already has several examples of projects on which he has used colored pencils, which gives similar projects a different look than traditional painting and adds a new dimension of appearance to that previously seen.

Jennifer Parker / Blackduck American

With an interest in teaching his craft to others, Frank is a part of the North Country Arts and Crafts Workshop at the Russian Village at the Concordia Language Villages in Bemidji. Class dates for 2024 are set for Sept. 10-12. Interested artists can register at or visit the Facebook page.

鈥淚 really enjoy training aspiring artists, and I want to encourage young people 鈥� or old 鈥� who are interested in carving,鈥� Frank said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hobby I enjoy, and unlike some carvers who specialize in a particular type of carving, I like doing a little of everything. So I have a little of everything to share.鈥�

To that end, he encourages that interest by pricing his own art reasonably.

鈥淚 like to offer affordable prices because I want people to be able to get what they want,鈥� he left off, 鈥渁nd perhaps be inspired to continue the work into the next generation.鈥�