Project by Mark A. DeCou | posted 05-04-2006 04:41 PM | 40086 views | 8 times favorited | 10 comments | ![]() |
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Here is a collection of canes I have built, most have been “Sold” already.
The only one of these canes I have left is shown here
Welcome Web Surfers:
If you are surfing looking for a special walking cane on the internet, go toward the bottom of this posting where you’ll find a list of canes that I have built that are ready to ship immediately. Also, there are links to several more customized canes that have already been sold to give you ideas for your own commissioned cane.
You can reach me by emailing to:
[email protected]
Or you can visit the DeCou Website
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Project Story:
I enjoy sculpting, and building “Functional-Art” items such as these canes, and they have been a good boost to my business. The walking canes have been a great way to spend a limited amount of time on short projects that can speak “my heart” to people at a limited cost.
Since the item is a functional cane, more buyers are introduced to my work, as it meets the functional need of someone sick-and-tired of their sweat-shop built, adjustable aluminum tube cane.
My work still comes from a sweat-shop, but it is my sweat, and I call the shop a “Studio.” (trying to be funny).
So, I stumbled onto a niche. Several cane customers have gone onto to stay involved in my artwork, and ordered other items, such as flutes, knives, furniture, and scrimshaw pieces, and additional canes for their own collections.
Each cane has a unique story to fit it’s unique, one-of-a-kind style. For instance, each of the Indian Chief Canes have a connection to an historical tribal leader, and I attach a laminated tag to the cane with the story for the buyer to keep about the historical person.
If you have some interesting ideas for me to use on a cane, please send them to me.
Photography by Trey Allen, Wichita, KS www.treyallen.com
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Cane Sample Slideshow: To hear Music, click the Speaker Icon
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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.
Handmade Finished Canes For Sale, Ready to Ship Now:
ETSY.com Online Shop Inventory: Click Here to Visit my Cane Inventory Page
Folk Art & Pop-Art Carved Canes- Bishop’s Carved Walnut Crosier
- Nascar’s Jimmie Johnson Themed Walking Cane
- Carved Oak Leaf Walking Stick
- Folk-Art Smiling Wood Spirit Face Cane w/ Elk Antler Handle
- Folk-Art Carved Wood Spirit Hiking Stick
- Folk-Art Pirate Carved Face Cane w/ Deer Antler Handle
- Cartoon Character Taz, Folk Art One-of-a-kind Art Cane
- Sculpted Wood Spirit Face Cane
- Folk-Art Wood Spirit Cane w/ Elk Antler Handle & Scrimshaw
- Folk Art Mountain Man Face Cane
- Shamrock Wood Spirit Irish-Theme Face Cane
- Walnut Wood Spirit Face Cane with Antler & Turquoise
- Collection of Face Carved Canes
- Moses-Inspired Face Carved Cane w/ Antler & Turquoise
- Shepherd's Stick, Carved Border Collie Welsh-Style Dog Show Trial Stick
- Carved Oak Leaf Walking Cane with Scrimshaw Artwork
- Amazing Grace Music Notes Carved Cane
- A Lady’s Elegant Red Long-Stem Rose Carved Cane
- Prairie Fire Hand-Carved Hiking Thumb Sticks
- A Folk-Art Carved Albatross Head & Snake Walnut Cane
- Carved Folk-Art Walking Cane; 'The Greatest Story Ever Told' Story Stick with Scrimshaw Artwork-
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- Apache Chief Geronimo Folk-Art Face Cane
- Folk Art Native American Face Cane Set
- Apache Chief Cochise Folk-Art Face Cane
- Folk Art Carved Cane of Shoshone Chief
- Indian Guides Chief Big-Red-Cloud Hiking Stick
- Apache Chief Cochise #2 Folk-Art Face Cane
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- Scrimshaw Art Trophy Buck Deer Head
- Scrimshaw Art Walking Cane: Praying Mantis Insect
- Scrimshaw Art Walking Cane: Floppy Eared Bunny Face & Walnut Barley Twist
- Big & Tall Barley Twisted Oak with Scrimshawn Handle
- Walnut & Curly Maple Cane with Scrimshaw
- Scrimshaw Art Walnut Cane
- Fancy Barley Twist with Scrimshaw Cane
- Lady's Dress Cane, Red Oak, Walnut, Black Lacquer, & Scrimshaw Artwork of a Purple Cone Flower
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- Folk-Art Carved Wood Spirit Hiking Stick
- Nanny McPhee Movie-Inspired Crooked Walking Stick
- Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Cane
- Naturally Twisted Tree Sapling Walking Stick
- Shepherd's Crook Hiking Stick
- Black Locust Tree Sapling Walking Stick
- Red BirchTree Sapling Hiking Stick
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- Fancy Barley Twisted Ebonized Oak & Elk Antler Cane, Serial No. 2009-05
- Big & Tall Walnut & Maple Barley Twist Custom Cane
- Big & Tall Red Oak and Antler with Scrimshaw Monogram
- White Oak Barley Twist Cane
- Osage Orange Barley Twist Cane
- Walnut & Figured Maple Barley Twist cane
- Black Walnut and Spalted Sycamore Barley Twist
- Red Oak Barley Twist with Black Lacquer
- Red Oak Barley Twist with Walnut Handle
- Dress Cane, Oak Barley Twist with Walnut Ring
- Bryan's Cane, The Start of my Cane Journey
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- Pink Ivory and Elk Antler Dress Walking Stick
- Coiled Ribbon Twisted Spalted White Oak with Walnut Handle
- Polished Black Steer Horn Upright Walking Stick
- Mexican Bocote Wood, Elk Antler Handle with Hand-Wrought Fine Silver End Caps
- Fancy Walking Cane, Camphor Burl, Maple, Bubinga, Whitetail Deer Antler, Inlays & Silver End Caps
- Custom Dress-Up Walking Cane, Walnut shaft with a Camphor Burl Handle
- Walnut & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
- White Birch & Buffalo Horn Twisted Cane
- Walnut Bamboo-Style Cane with Chrome Ball Top
- Walnut & Buffalo Horn Dress Cane
- Bird's Eye Maple Cane
- Spalted Sycamore Walking Cane
- Walnut Tall Knob Top Opera Cane
- Zebrawood & Walnut Knob Top Opera Cane
- Dress Cane Set, with several Material Options Shown
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What is Scrimshaw Artwork?:
A Scrimshaw Art Journey: What it is & How to Do it; Five Simple Steps to Success
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Click here to go to My Website page with Walking Canes
- Hatman Jack’s Wichita Hat Works in Wichita, Kansas
- Hutchinson Art Center in Hutchinson, Kansas
- Prairie Past Times Antiques & Crafts in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas
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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Still Want to See more of my work?
Start with each of these links, and they will take you to other organized lists of my other niche products:
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(This text, all photos, project design, are protected by copyright 2007-2009, M.A.DeCou, all rights reserved and protected, ask permission first! Weblinks to this page are permitted)
-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com
10 comments so far
Roger
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95 posts in 5416 days
#1 posted 05-04-2006 07:22 PM
Great I also have made some canes where do you get your ferrels (whatever the spelling is you know the brass at the tip).
Mark A. DeCou
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2009 posts in 5415 days
#2 posted 05-04-2006 09:12 PM
I have tried several things for tip ferrels. I have ordered machined brass tips from www.walkingcanedepot.com that I liked. To keep the costs down, I have gone to brass tubing that I can buy at any hardware store in 12” lengths. To make the rubber tip replaceable, I order the rubber small rupper tip replacements from www.walkingcanedepot, and combine them with the hardware store brass tubing to make an inexpensive tip, yet it is not ugly like the big “crutch” tips that so many walking canes have on them. Thanks for asking,
Mark
-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com
bigpops0259
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323 posts in 5159 days
#3 posted 01-17-2007 07:49 PM
awesome, truely beautiful i wish I had even some of the ability to make wonders of this caliber.
-- Marty Ohio
BassBully
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261 posts in 5106 days
#4 posted 03-10-2007 07:34 AM
What kind of wood do you use and where do you find it? I’ve always wanted to sit in front of the t.v. in my spare time and widdle away a caricature in a cane. I’ve thought about using fallen limbs from the woods but I don’t know whether to scavenger for green or drift or just simply go to the wood store and purchase a blank piece.
-- There are three types of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't!
MsDebbieP
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18619 posts in 5170 days
#5 posted 03-10-2007 01:43 PM
do I see nose-rings on some of your work??? or am I mis-reading some other artistic design?
-- ~ Debbie, Canada (https://www.facebook.com/DebbiePribele, Young Living Wellness )
PanamaJack
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4483 posts in 5087 days
#6 posted 04-19-2007 05:16 PM
I’d settle for 10% of this ability! (Marty Ohio) This is great stuff once again Mark. How long have you been in woodworking?
-- Carpe Lignum; Tornare Lignum (Seize the wood, to Turn the wood)
Mark A. DeCou
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2009 posts in 5415 days
#7 posted 05-27-2007 07:46 AM
Big Pops: give it a shot. I’ve struggled at teaching myself to carve since I was a kid. It is something that doesn’t come naturally for me, I’ve had to work at it, and still have lots of room to improve.
bassbully: I use mostly Walnut, Ash, Oak, Hackberry, mainly because I have that wood on hand. I did do a couple of Zebra Wood Indian Chief Canes for a commission, and I have one stick of it left for a special project sometime. I get my wood wherever I can find it. I’m still using stock from three different auctions I attended. I also buy from Sam Kellogg in Garden Plaine, KS, who has a nice mill and kiln. Leon Nelson from Burdick, KS has been a supplier in the past also.
Debbie: yes that is a brass ring. I don’t know why, just seemed like a good idea t the time. Both of them sold, so maybe I’ll try it again some time.
PanamaJack: thanks for the encouragement. Woodworking since I was a kid. My dad was a wood shop teacher until I was about 14, and then he did remodeling of homes for awhile. He took an old dilapidated barn one time and made it into a huge duplex, quite an inspiration. So I had a set of tools and workbench in my bedroom, and was able to experiment and try new things, and learned to use power tool really young. I left woodworking for a number of years while I pursued other things, like 4-wheeling, Corvettes, Harleys, and some other things, but then came back to what I had always wanted to do, woodworking. I like the ability to do creative things, and working in wood seems easier for me than other mediums. I think for many of us, what we liked as kids, is still the thing that is best for us to pursue for a career. Learning to live on what that “thing” pays is a challenge, and something that most aren’t willing to do. Sometimes I ponder whether I should try something with easier money. But, not unless I have to.
-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com
oscorner
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4563 posts in 5320 days
#8 posted 05-27-2007 02:05 PM
Your canes are great! I hope to never need one, but if I do I know where I’ll get it from. Thanks, Mark!
-- Jesus is Lord!
Dick, & Barb Cain
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8693 posts in 5309 days
#9 posted 01-14-2008 11:28 PM
A nice display of beautiful craftsmanship.
I’ve made some canes, but it’s hard to get a picture of a single cane to look right. This is a good way to do it.
-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1
Mark A. DeCou
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2009 posts in 5415 days
#10 posted 01-16-2008 05:59 PM
Thanks Dick:
Photographing the canes has proven to be real challenge for me. Nothing I seem to try gives me a good photo indoors with my digital. I have started to wait for a cloudy day and take them outside, and then just black out the background in my photo shop program. Not the best, but better than I used to get. I think the problem is that the digital focusing has a hard time finding the cane right in the middle of the screen, while it is still trying to focus on the background on both sides of the cane. If I could figure out how to do it manually, or to decrease the size of the focus square in the screen, that might help, but that would require me to read the instructions….....and, well, that will probably never happen.
I was reading Mark’s comment just about yours, and I remember the day that he wrote me that note. I miss his comments and friendship. I realize that his Being with Jesus is better for him, but I still miss him on LJ.
thanks,
M
-- Mark DeCou - American Contemporary Craft Artisan - www.decoustudio.com
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