Reg Davidson, Haida Carver

Reg Davidson is an internationally acclaimed Haida artist who creates large and small cedar sculptures, silk-screen prints, gold and silver jewelry, weaving, carved masks and painted drums.

He was born in 1954 in Masset, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), British Columbia. Reg began his artistic training under the guidance of his father, Claude Davidson, chief of the village of Dadens, Haida Gwaii. Many members of the Davidson family are artists, including Reg's well-known brother, Robert Davidson.

Reg is an accomplished dancer and singer with the Rainbow Creek Dancers, a Haida Dance group that Reg and Robert formed in 1980. Reg designed and created much of the dance regalia for the group including masks, drums, and kid leather dance capes. Reg recognizes the importance of song and dance to Haida culture. In 1977, he worked with Robert on the Charles Edenshaw Memorial Longhouse.

In August 1980, Malaspina College on Vancouver Island commissioned Reg to create a 31-foot, 3 figure Eagle crest totem pole for presentation to the Tamagawa University of Japan. This led to a second commission for a pole raised in Old Massett.

Reg thinks the masters have already pushed it to the max. Reg's style shows reverence for the masters and has changed only slightly over the years. Simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve," he says.

Hawk Mask

Understand that what I'm doing now is still growing and still alive; stuff now is traditional and will still be in 100 years.

I Want to be Your Teddy Bear	Frog Sculpture	Crab of the Woods

Raven Helmet	Frog Helmet

White Raven	Raven Stealing Beaver Lodge Pole, 1998	Ran Out of Black Paint, 1999

Raven in Red Form	Raven Eagle Pole, 2000	Bear Mother in Human Form, 2002

Raven Canoe Bowl, 2002	Connecting the Spirits was carved in three sections and painted in 2002 by thousands of people as it traveled to 14 cities in Canada.

Before She Became the Moon, 2003	Eagle Claw With Dinner, 2003	Spirit of Woman, 2003

2003	Winter Moon, 2004	Frog Rattle

Eagle Spirit Woman, 2004.	Grizzly Bear and Cubs, 2004 (see the step-by-step process below).

Craig and Cecil used an Alaska mill to shape a red cedar log for the Grizzly Bear and Cubs Sculpture, then Oliver and Cecil made sure that everything was square before moving the log into Reg's studio. The sculpture took 2 months to complete.

The piece was set up-side-down (on the left) to continue the roughing out process in Reg's studio.

The carving was finished in Reg's studio.

Maturing Watchman, 2005	Eagle Woman	Gone to the Other Side, 2005	New Beginning, 2006

Reg just finished this 40' totem pole for a collector. Here are a few pictures of the creation of the pole.	From left to right is a frog in a bear's mouth, a human, then a frog.

From left to right is a sea wolf, then two killer whales.	The middle section features a tadpole, a man, and a frog in a bear's mouth.

A raven transforming into a human tops the pole, followed by Susan the Strongman are on the top. Painting has begun.

The finished 40' pole, 2006	Woman Riding 4' tall Killer Whale Fin, 2006

Below is one of two longhouse front corner posts that Reg carved to accompany the 40' pole (above).

Eagle Drum, 2007	Raven Drum, 22", 2007	Raven Finned Killer Whale Drum, 22", 2007

Bent Cedar Box, 19 x 19 x 24", 2007	Bent Cedar Chest, 28 x 15 x 22", 2007

Seven Generations, red cedar, horsehair, & cedar bark, 40 x 24 x 16", 2007	Eagle Woman, red cedar wood and bark, operculum teeth, 2007	One Lone Wolf, red cedar wood, bark, 2008	Moon, red cedar wood and bark, operculum teeth, 2008

Raven Transformation Pole, red cedar, 9' high, 2008

2009	2009	Shark Mask, 2009

Reg and his work are featured in "Traditions of the Haida Gwaii," Woodcarving Magazine, May/June 2004: 56-59. For more information about Reg or his work, please look at his resume, or contact him at:

Box 174
Masset, Haida Gwaii
British Columbia
Canada, VOT 1M0
Telephone: (250) 626-3764
Email Reg

LINKS:
Haida Argillite Carver, Myles Edgars
Haida Silversmith, Dave Hunter
Haida Painter, James Sawyer
Haida Cedar Bark Hat Maker, Gladys Vandal
Polish Wood Carver, Czeslaw Olma
Polish Wood Carver, Jan Piotr Ledwon
Silva Foundation Workshops in Lisbon, Portugal
Intarsia of Granada, Spain
Religious Sculpture in Seville, Spain
Mexican Wood Carver, Fernando Giron Pantoja
Mexican Marquetry Box Maker, José Antonio Rodríguez
Wood Carving in Foumban, Cameroon, Africa
Abdou Mfopa
Wood Carving in Bali, Indonesia
Horn Carving in Bali, Indonesia

Web page, photographs, and text by Carol Ventura in 2001. Please look at Carol's home page to see more about crafts around the world.

Gagheet Mask	Bent-Wood Eagle Bowl, yellow cedar, 1989	Killer Whale & Eagle Pole	Blue Portrait, 1991

Reg's home, studio, and 30' cedar canoe (carved in San Francisco in 1990).

A piece of red cedar is screwed onto a rotating vise. Careful measurements are necessary in order to give the moon mask a symmetrical face. The inside of the mask is hollowed out after the face has been finished. The carved mask is then painted and dressed with cedar bark.