Stef Walker creates fine woodcarvings in the Japanese style.He graduated from California State University Northridge with a degree in American history. After graduating, Walker moved to the San Francisco Bay Area for a few years, then traveled to Japan where he spent five years as the apprentice of a Japanese master woodcarver.Under his tutelage, he primarily worked on traditional Japanese craft, such as Noh masks, wooden broaches, and incense boxes used during the tea ceremony.During his free time, Walker worked on his own sculptures.Each year, his sculptures were selected from a pool of the entire artistic community of the island of Hokkaido for exhibition at the City Museum of Sapporo.Upon returning to the Bay Area, Walker has continued to carve a diverse array of objects and artworks, including furniture, sculpture, jewelry, signs, carousel horses, make-up boxes and Chinese signature stamps.
Walker’s sculpture is included in George Krevsky Gallery’s The Fine Art of Baseball: 14th Annual exhibition.He titles his baseball sculpture, Sandlot, for his youthful memories of playing ball.In the artist’s words, “the term sandlot conjures up a time when baseball was just pure fun. It didn’t matter where you played or if you had a uniform. It didn’t matter if the ball you played with had been hit so many times that it had lost its shape or the color had faded from white to brown. You just kept playing. Kept playing until the ball fell apart at the seams and then you wrapped it in electricians tape and played some more.”This is the precise feeling that Walker wants to recreate, and the Japanese woodcarving style lends itself particularly well.In order to imbue the figures with the feeling of minor league or semi pro players, Walker avoids specific uniform styles and color combinations that are reminiscent of the major leagues.
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