Project by Mark A. DeCou | posted 05-29-2008 09:05 AM | 20510 views | 1 time favorited | 14 comments | ![]() |
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This walking cane has been SOLD and shipped to Cheshire, MA USA.
Cane Serial Number: #2008-04
Height: 34.25”
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Welcome 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.
New Slide Show: I’ve added a new Slide Show below to show examples of other cane styles I’ve done.
You can reach me by emailing to:
Or you can Click here to visit the DeCou Studio Website
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Project Story:
This is a walking cane I carved out of a piece of walnut wood. The Wood Spirit is grinning, enjoying life. The cane handle is Kansas Elk Natural Shed Antler with synthetic ivory end caps. The back end cap has a scrimshaw art picture of a leaf and a wisdom statement, “Wisdom is the Tree of Life.” The carving has been hand painted with thinned acrylic paints and finished with lacquer. The end tip is a brass ferrell with a replaceable rubber tip.
The display stand is Red Oak.
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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
Some Cane that are Unsold:- Folk-Art Carved Wood Spirit Hiking Stick, Serial N0. 2009-06
- Folk-Art Carved Pirate Face Cane -Serial No. 2005-16
- Folk-Art Carved Mountain Man Face Cane -Serial No. 2006-03
- Fancy Barley Twisted Ebonized Oak & Elk Antler Cane, Serial No. 2009-05
- Rustic Natural Walking Stick, Nanny McPhee Movie Inspired, Serial No. 2009-07
- Fancy Dress Cane, Curly Ambrosia Maple Handle with Black Spiral Shaft, Serial No. 2008-21
- Fancy Dress Cane, Walnut Bamboo Inspired Shaft, Buffalo Horn Laminated Handle, Serial No. 2008-23
- Scrimshaw Artwork Walnut Cane -Serial No. 2008-08
- Red Oak/Black Lacquered Twisted Cane -Serial No. 2008-14
- Red Oak Barley Twist Walking Cane -Serial No. 2008-15
- Walnut Ball-Top Dress Cane -Serial No. 2008-06
- Walnut Cane with Chrome Ball Knob -Serial No. 2008-20
- Carved Thumbstick Hiking Sticks with Composite Malachite -Serial No. 2008-24
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- 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
14 comments so far
Scott Bryan
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27249 posts in 4831 days
#1 posted 05-29-2008 11:05 AM
This is a very nice cane. The smiling wood spirit adds a nice detail to the cane that is appealing to me personally. I would have to say this would be one of my favorites.
Thanks for the post.
-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine
Roger Strautman
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657 posts in 5143 days
#2 posted 05-29-2008 11:54 AM
Yep this one is my favorite! Very nice carving and scrim work!
-- " All Things At First Appear Difficult"
trifern
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8135 posts in 4776 days
#3 posted 05-29-2008 01:19 PM
I love the personality of this one Mark. Thank you for sharing.
-- My favorite piece is my last one, my best piece is my next one.
Karson
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35270 posts in 5410 days
#4 posted 05-29-2008 04:56 PM
Another great cane Mark. great job on the carvings.
-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Appomattox Virginia [email protected] †
CharlieM1958
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16292 posts in 5227 days
#5 posted 05-29-2008 05:46 PM
Amazing facial features!
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
CedarFreakCarl
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594 posts in 5063 days
#6 posted 05-29-2008 05:53 PM
Incredible Mark! Your artistic skills are amazing.
-- Carl Rast, Pelion, SC
Allison
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820 posts in 4808 days
#7 posted 05-29-2008 08:14 PM
Absolutely Stunning!!! I just cannot believe the workmanship on this face and I see it sooo clearly in a picture.
Beautiful
-- Allison, Northeastern Ca. Remember, Amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic!
teenagewoodworker
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2727 posts in 4777 days
#8 posted 05-29-2008 09:00 PM
that is stunning. there is so much detail in all your work and it is stunning all of the pieces that you put out. thanks for the post.
Todd A. Clippinger
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8901 posts in 5109 days
#9 posted 05-29-2008 09:52 PM
That is good stuff brother!
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://americancraftsmanworkshop.com
WayneC
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14359 posts in 5106 days
#10 posted 05-29-2008 09:55 PM
Wonderful as always. I would love to have one.
-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov
Napaman
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5534 posts in 5086 days
#11 posted 05-30-2008 02:38 AM
that is amazing…
-- Matt--Proud LJ since 2007
jockmike2
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10635 posts in 5256 days
#12 posted 05-31-2008 04:44 PM
Love the character. Looks like an Irishman. mike
-- (You just have to please the man in the Mirror) Mike from Michigan -
darryl
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1795 posts in 5335 days
#13 posted 06-02-2008 05:15 AM
I really like these wood spirit canes. the flowing beards are great.
your work is truly amazing.
Schummie
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203 posts in 4774 days
#14 posted 06-27-2008 04:58 PM
Hello Mark,
It is really unbelievably what you make, it is so beautiful, so carestic, it is really . . . . .
I don’t have the words to say how beautiful I find it.
My father in law (God have its soul) was greasy about beautiful walking sticks,
he collect them, I think when he saw your walking sticks he step direct in he’s car
a came to you (from the Netherlands :-)
Thanks Mark,
Schummie.
-- Greetings from the Netherlands.
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