Spencer Alexander carves fish. And he’s good at it! I was in our local fly shop (RoundRocks) a couple of months ago and happened to notice some fish mounted on the walls. At first they looked like some plastic models. Now, before you say that’s a bad thing, think about the detail you get with molded plastic. However, the fish didn’t look plastic-y, they looked detailed.
I asked about them and was told that Spencer Alexander, a “local” carver made them. Spencer isn’t exactly local, but pretty close. He grew up in Farr West, Utah, about 25 miles from Logan. His home was along what is called the Wasatch Front. The Wasatch Mountains are the western range of the Rocky Mountains and he could see the towering, jagged peaks from his home. More importantly, he was able to get into those mountains frequently for some of his greatest enjoyments: camping, hiking and fishing.
Ever since he was young, Spencer was always drawing. His favorite subjects were animals, including dinosaurs. With his increasing skills he was invited to share some of his pen, ink and pencil work at a local museum at the age of 16. He also got involved in air-brushing large murals and was even commissioned by his high school to create one.
Spencer’s father, who was involved in sheet metal fabricating and wood carving, started teaching himself how to carve wood while Spencer lived away from home. When he returned, his father urged Spencer to give it a try, showing him some of the things he learned including using some of the tools of the trade.
Spencer says that the first ten or so carvings were pretty much the same as far as quality, and it didn’t seem like his skills were improving. About a year into it things started to click and each fish was progressively better. He even feels that the fish he carves now are better than the ones just a year ago. On completion of a fish, he says that, “If all has gone as planned, and it meets or surpasses my expectations, then it is they greatest feeling in the world.” Even after his work and accomplishments, he sometimes is “surprised to think that underneath all that work is just a piece of wood.”
As I noted earlier, one thing about the carvings at the store that caught my eye was the fine detail. For example, trout have extra teeth where you might not expect them: on the “tongue” and roof of the mouth (respectively basihyal teeth and vomer teeth). Look in the mouth of one of Spencer’s carvings, and there they are. He puts in the time to not only get the book-learning about the species he carves, but firsthand experience as he spends time “in the field” catching, photographing and releasing his samples.
One would think with this type of dedication to detail and research that his carvings would have a lifeless, clinical aspect to them. However, he has a fine arts background. “He prefers elegance and the artistic to the traditionally rugged,” is how his bio puts it. I say that the fine arts training helps him infuse his subjects with life and vibrancy, as if at any moment the fish will leap off the wall or nab a fly that gets too close.
I asked him how long it takes to carve a single fish. He said about 3-4 working days. But this isn’t really an accurate picture. For example, he spends considerably more time with the research than he does putting chips on the floor. He has switched from air-brushing the carvings to hand painting with artist’s brushes. These add extra time. But this commitment to detail and to the artisan in him has paid big dividends.
Something he started doing about three years ago was entering carving contests, competing in both the California Open and the World Fish Carving Championships. Last month at the California Open in San Diego Spencer entered two pieces: a fall German Brown trout on a driftwood base for which he earned 3rd place and a Rio Piaxtla trout which garnered 2nd place.
Spencer sells existing carvings and he can be commissioned for murals and carvings. If you are interested in having him create a lasting memory of a fish you caught, you just need some measurements and photographs. He is currently working on a 41 inch lake trout caught in the Flaming Gorge reservoir.
Contact Information
phone: 801.710.1206
email: spencer.alexander[a]yahoo.com (replace the [a] with @)
Beautiful art from a gifted artist. Thanks for the post.
Yes, and he just won a 3rd place at the world showing! Congratulations Spencer!