The Art of wood carving in the Philippines is way back an integral part of our history, whether it is contemporary art or it speaks about traditional art, the art of wood carving embodies an integral part of our Philippine culture. The Art of wood-crafting or wood carving is an ancient tradition that created a hierarchy of arts and crafts and became an essential craft industry and eventually become an integral part of our home.
Philippines’ art of wood carving is an ancient tradition that can be identified by contemporary art and traditional arts. Contemporary art represents the present, latest, or modern kind of arts and crafts. Perfect examples of contemporary Filipino artists are our very own Filipino artist Ernesto Du-lang also known as Manong Ernesto, a resident wood carver in Baguio City who accomplish several great works in carving history and Jose Alcantara’s famous work of Philam Life in 1961, the 1536-meter Narra wall sculpture which mirrors Filipino culture and history. On the other hand, traditional arts of wood carving are the arts that belong to the historical era and are solely made or created manually, it is an art way back then with our ancestors and pre-colonial times. Traditionally, our ancestors created and carved their essential items using wood carvings such as arrows for hunting animals, wooden containers for storing liquids, containers carrying grains, fish traps, boats, ornamentals, and plows. Traditional arts are arts that encompass traditional culture and become a part of economic trade, home living needs, and everyday needs and became an essential source of income for many business forms.
The art of native wood carving or crafting is one of the traditional arts and crafts that is sustainable and a base of economic export. It supports the business of our indigenous natives like our very own cordillera tribal groups. Cordillera Tribal Groups are known to us as one of the best Philippine Islands finest in art sculpting or wood carving like their famous Bulul which represents a deity for good harvest and protection. To add, let us also take pride in our dearest Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal who sculpted a statue of the Sacred Heart in batikuling wood by using only a penknife. He was only 14 years old then and his professor at Ateneo de Manila University was very impressed with him.
The different cultures in our very own Island Philippines are indeed rich with arts and crafts of wood carving that we can incorporate and represent its whole context into our home. Adding the art of wood craftsmanship is making our home culturally integrated with our heritage and practically we are adding a lifestyle that defines hard work and a meaningful lifestyle.
Let’s find out what are tips you can do or the kinds of wood carving products you can incorporate into your home or the wood carving lists of items you can use in your home.
6 Tips on how you can Incorporate Woodcarving Products and Craftsmanship into your Home.
1. Give your Home the touch of the Art of Furniture.
Traditionally, the most familiar art form in the Philippine wood carving and a home-based industry is the art of Furniture. Wood like mahogany, narra, bamboo, and yakal are the usual materials in furniture wood carving. Examples you can add to your home are sculpted sets of furniture, cabinets, hew tables, dressers, and fashion doors. You may add some Bamboo furniture which is also a very minimalist and sustainable product in our country with its wide range of local base material that is readily available and substantial. Potential product examples you may incorporate are dining tables, chairs, coffee, and side table.
Read also: Benefits and Drawbacks of Using Wooden Furniture Pieces | Bria Homes
2. Add your Home with Woodcarving Home Products.
Add some wood carving home bamboo-made carving products such as bamboo cups, bamboo root sculpts trays, bamboo center table bases, and different sizes of bamboo boxes with covers. Place some carved chopping boards and some good-to-go carved wooden food trays in your kitchen. You may also add different wood kitchens tools like spoons and spatulas. You may also request to carve your personalized name plates or name title in your customized home products and include a unique design of wood craftsmanship by choosing items of wood sculpted with abaca fiber that adds embellishment to your home.
3. Design your home with the Art of Woodburning in wood carve products.
Add wood-burning products into your Home to accelerate a defined tone of design and a distinct collaborative of art in your home. Wood Burning in wood carving or pyrography is to create a design using the heat technique to create a unique design or picture. It is a delicate process of incorporating burn heat to produce a textured definition and the message of the art by enhancing it with dark tones and depth detail. Examples of this technique are household items like kitchen tools, frames, decorative products, food trays, and wooden boxes.
4. Add some Accessories.
In our country, the Philippines’ jewelry making is part of wood carving businesses, using wood that complements recycle, driftwood, or scrap wood is considered environmentally economical, fashionable, light weighted, and most likely easy to sculpt, shape, and design. Wood accessories include pearls, bangles, bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and some semi-precious stones and pendants. For home personal specialty you may add a sculpt jewelry box for your pearls, necklaces, earrings, tie pins, or cuff links. Add some decorative figurines, trending plant holders, wood charging stations, functional baskets, coat racks, wooden key holders, cutlery sets, and some aesthetic wood ornament. Also, you may add decorations like wood wall clocks, hanging Family trees decorations, and some wall art too.
5. Built your Home with Accent.
Combining Philippine sculpture and creative design in arts and crafts will give you a textured accent design that promotes a warm and fascinating surrounding you may incorporate to add your home with an accent wall, side table, wooden carved accent chair, customize a headboard for your bed, add onlay wooden decorations and pieces of furniture and wooden accent shelves for your room and living room.
6. Explore Philippine Art Sculpture Places.
Making a home highly stylized, warm, and inviting serene space, you may add sculpture that represents your ideals, culture, and lifestyle. You may visit Paete, Laguna, the renounced carving capital of the Philippines. You may check out their religious products and other sculptured items in their workshops. You may also check out the province of Bohol in Visayas Island for reviving its lively tradition which is also known for its carving and making nature gods creations of religious relics. Also included in the list is the place of Betis in the province of Pampanga in Northern Luzon, one of the perfect examples of tradition for their furniture-making and wood-making business. They are known for their amazing and delicate work and are highly known for global quality products for the Church’s needs, museums, and the customization of products that you need in your Home. From small to large scale of your needs they are still present produced prime products in the province and continuously serving your home needs of craftmanship.
The Art of Philippine Woodcarving and Craftsmanship
Our country’s craftsmanship and ancient traditions are incomparable. Our country, the Philippines, is rich and diverse with a lot of cultural heritage that we believe is one of the best in the world of arts and skills. As native Filipinos state that wood crafting is sustainable to our everyday life and supporting huge patronage to our dear natives is a trait of a homegrown Philippine culture, a very Filipino value that is past generation to generation and became part of our lifestyle.
The idea of adding craftsmanship of wood carving into our home is recognizing and giving honor to our Philippine race. We are raising the quality of our lifestyle and allowing the beauty of the natural skills we have. Home with woodcarving to function to mobility, to earnings to decoration, and to embody a sense of beauty and nationality, indeed woodcraft is a unique home piece that we can be proud to say that our home is a home of the cultural hierarchy and heritage of representation.
Home is our very own art of hard work and craftsmanship. We crafted our dreams of having a home and carved it into a place of haven that gives us the artistic freedom to live our lives the way we desire it. We give importance to the fulfillment of how we were able to carve our journey to a better future ahead just like the respected sculptor and carvers. They don’t just produce simple art but create a heart of gold of skills and cultural purpose.
Combining crafts into our home creates connections with nature and every piece of carved art in every part of the house has a meaningful message. The hard work of creating a piece of art is a meticulous choice of skill just like in choosing your home it requires a base of heart that answers all your needs and fulfills the dream you have. Bria Homes is a highly recommended house and lot that you can choose to equal your hard work and give you the beauty and uniqueness of prime well-built homes. They have different models of homes that you can choose that suit your artistic taste and the serenity you want. You may check their websites and house and lot locations for better viewing and better scope of your needs.
Start to craft your dreams with Bria Homes and grab the opportunity to carve the life you deserve that is well-planned, well-laid, comfortable, and built with hard work. Inquire now!
Written by Rowena Lansang
