Gilbert Crowe has been a skilled woodcarver for nearly half a century, carving a variety of animal and human figures. He has also taught woodcarving in many different settings.

Born and raised on Wright's Creek in Jackson County, Gilbert Crowe has lived in the area around Cherokee all his life. His father, Albert Crowe, made bows and arrows and tomahawks, and his mother, Regina Crowe, was a potter. Although he carved as a child, it was at Cherokee High School that he took up carving in earnest, inspired by an encouraging teacher. One of his early pieces was a mountain lion made from laurel root. A barber by trade, Gilbert Crowe has cut hair for thirty-six years at his shop in downtown Cherokee. At the same time, he has established a reputation as a fine woodcarver.

Gilbert Crowe joined the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual in the 1950s, and he continues to sell many of his woodcarvings there. He has demonstrated woodcarving in various places, including the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville. Gilbert Crowe has taught woodcarving classes in the Cherokee area and at the Haskell Institute in Lawrence, Kansas.

He will work with students of all ages. "They just need interest," he says. His fees are negotiable. Gilbert Crowe confines his traveling to the local area around Cherokee, and he prefers to be contacted by mail.

GILBERT CROWE

PO Box 521
Cherokee, NC 28719