Sarah Brown
Everybody has talents in one way or another, and it is a gift from the Lord.
That’s how Sweet Home resident Elda Miller explains her artistic ability, which recently was recognized with a People’s Choice award in the art exhibit at the new City Hall.
Both Elda and her husband, Ed, take a creative approach to this idea.
The pair have been spending their 20-plus years of retirement pursuing art in various forms. Between them, they have created paintings, sculptures, mosaics, birdhouses, decorated gourds and more.
Though Elda is now thinking she’d eventually like to dabble with stained glass, she’s still enjoying turning gourds into decorated pieces of art. She took an interest in that hobby about two years ago while in Arizona.
“We snowbirded for awhile down in Yuma and it’s pretty popular down there,” she said. “I went to a few of the shows and I thought I’d like to try that.”
Most of the decorated gourds in the Southwest tend to have a more desert or Native American flair to them, she said, but Elda prefers to carve and paint hers with colorful subjects – flowers, seahorses, roosters, autumn leaves, Christmas poinsettias and the American flag.
She uses a Dremel grinder to carve, stipple and burn designs into the hard surface.
“I make use of everything on the gourds,” Elda said.
If she cuts the top off, she might use it as a lid piece, or turn it into something like a bell or small vase.
Ed’s art is a hobby that originated from his childhood.
“I carved a little bit on a jackknife when I was a boy,” Ed said. “I’d carve a chain or find something like that to do.”
But he’s not fiddling with silly little chains today. Instead, Ed carves blocks of wood into sculptures. Most of his pieces are ballerinas and other dancing females.
“I discovered that doing ballerinas is quite a challenge, so the reward is proportional to the challenge,” he explained.
He makes it sound simple, though. He usually uses walnut, maple or basswood, and takes away everything out of that block that’s not part of the subject.
Like his wife, Ed uses a Dremel grinder for much of his carving.
“Your traditional carvers frown on it. They think it’s cheating. With them it’s gotta be all chisels and knives. For me, it’s whatever gets the job done the quickest, the easiest.”
One of Elda’s favorite sculptures that her husband made is of a puffin bird, which she requested.
“I’m fascinated by their eyes,” she said.
She pointed out the fine detail of the bird’s claws, which Ed shaped using tweezers and a file.
He duplicated his finished piece by bronzing the bird.
To bronze his pieces, Ed makes a mold of the sculpture and then pours in liquid bronze. He rolls the liquid around to make sure every crevice is coated. Although the finished piece is hollow, it’s quite heavy.
“Bronzing is a lot of work, and my success rate was not very high because I’m such an amateur,” he said.
It’s also heavy work, which discourages him from doing much of it anymore.
Ed used to meet with a few other men once a week at the Sweet Home Senior Center for a carving session, but the class was discontinued because only two or three would show up.
“It makes no difference if it was two or half a dozen,” noted Elda, who is disappointed the class was canceled. “It’s just to get together and share things.”
She, herself, started a workshop at the Senior Center for painting and general art. Elda started painting on canvas more than 55 years ago.
“I got inspired by Bill Alexander. He’s gone now, but I had my picture taken with him up in Salem at one of the expos.”
She took some classes from Robert Warren, who studied under Alexander. Her favorite subject matters included flowers and horses.
“I’ve done a lot of horse pictures, and I’ve sold quite a few,” Elda said.
Though the Senior Center workshop continues today, she doesn’t participate as much anymore because she is currently working with glass paint on her gourds, which requires respiratory protection.
In addition to gourds and paintings, Elda likes making glass mosaics and birdhouses. She sells her work at fairs in Sweet Home, Lebanon, Rickreall and Springfield.
Some of her paintings might be found on display at the senior center and new City Hall, including the People’s Choice award winner from the grand opening at City Hall.
Ed also holds a People’s Choice award for one of his ballerinas during a carving expo in Yuma.
His most recent project is the reconstruction of a pioneer wagon model, which had been crushed by a bowling ball. He added a carved set of oxen to pull the wagon, and a dog, and is working on a mule to trail behind the wagon.
Prior to retiring, Ed worked for Oregon Department of Transportation, and Elda worked for Montgomery Ward. They lived in Salem before moving to Sweet Home 20 years ago.
“We started doing a lot of this after we retired because-,” Elda started.
“-we’d go to a lot of craft shows,” Ed finished.
“I enjoy it because I like to see what other people do,” Elda said. “This is their hobby, all handmade, and I enjoy that.”