Sanford Williams, a talented Mowachaht master wood carver, has made another major donation of one of his pieces to the Canucks for Kids Fund.
Sanford’s last donation to the fund raised more than $1,000 at the Dice & Ice gala and auction. It was a stunning retro goalie mask featuring Williams’ interpretation of the Canucks’ orca logo wrapped around the face of the mask.
Sanford Williams, 47, is a soft-spoken man who has spent most of his life at his historic-Yuquot home, also known as Friendly Cove.
Yuquot was once a bustling village for the Mowachaht people; now there is only one resident family–the Williams. All the others moved to urban centres for school, jobs and modern conveniences.
Friendly Cove is remote, accessible only by boat or float plane, so Williams and his family live in isolation for most of the year. But it comes alive in summer time when the people come back for camping trips and tourists and hikers arrive to take in the beauty of the place.
When Williams was a little boy, he was sent to Christie Residential School near Tofino, and there he stayed until Grade 9. The memories from that place were not pleasant and the young boy endured abuse that left the kind of scars one cannot see with their eyes.
“Carving is what kept me going. It kept my mind on my culture and it helped me escape from those memories; it kept me strong,” said Williams.
“My parents used to talk about my grandfather, Jimmy John, and how he was a carver,” said Williams. “I started out making paintings and my mother told me that if I could paint, then I can carve.”
His mother showed him a mask made by his grandfather. Williams was so inspired by the beauty of the mask that he locked himself in his bedroom for four days; finally emerging with an exact replica of his grandfather’s mask. It was a proud moment for the budding carver.
Williams was first exposed to the art of carving when his now late uncle Dominic Andrews (Hesquiaht Tyee Ha’wilth) would come to stay with the family during the summer.
“He used to get up early in the morning, about five and I would watch him make masks. He was fast,” Williams remembered.
From Andrews, Williams learned how to properly split a block of wood for mask-making. “He taught me basics of masks when I was a teenager and after he left I started learning on my own,” Williams recalled.
In his late teens Williams began dreaming of going to carving school, but he needed money to pay for it.
“I wanted to make something of my life,” he added.
“I had my own store at Yuquot, and I would sell or raffle my carvings to make money to get me into school,” he said. It was in 1986, when Williams, then age 19, caught the eye of one of the tourists visiting. She was inspired to help this young man who was working so hard to get himself into school. But she didn’t say anything to Williams about what she was going to do. Shortly afterward, the Mowachaht/Muchalaht Nation received an anonymous donation that covered William’s expenses for carving school.
With the doors of opportunity now opened wide, Williams left for Hazelton to the Gitanmaax School of Art, completing two programs over four years learning from master carvers Vernon Stephens and Ken Mowatt. Besides classroom time, Williams dedicated himself to the art by staying to carve after hours.
“I kept myself busy apprenticing with them; I would help them out when they had big orders,” said Williams.
Eleven years later, Williams returned home to Yuquot. By this time his family had a new house so he used their old house for a workshop.
Eventually, the old house was too far gone so he built a workshop on the beach. From there Williams sold his work during the busy tourist season. “A lot of people think my work is west coast style, but it’s not,” he said. The Tsimshian style of artistry, which Williams says is more intricate, is a style he likes, so he’s stuck with it.
Despite the quality and beauty of his work, sales were slow at his isolated Yuquot shop until his name started getting out into the public over a decade ago.
A gallery in Tofino sought Williams out, commissioning work from him to sell at their store. From there Williams received custom orders, including a totem pole commissioned by a millionaire, which now stands at a private home on Chesterman Beach near Tofino.
Williams was among three aboriginal artists selected to represent Canada at the 1998 Sanyi International Wood Carving Festival.
Then Williams met and married his publicist wife, Marlana. Impressed with her husband’s story and his talent, Marlana began promoting him. She reached out to the Canucks kids’ fund and the Bill Reid Foundation, offering donations of Sanford Williams’ pieces for their fundraisers. Prior to that Williams said he used to donate his pieces to family and community for things like sports fundraisers for the kids or family weddings.
“I’d help them out whenever I could,” said Williams.
This year for the Canucks kids’ fund, Williams is working on a newer-style mask inspired by Canuck’s goalie Ryan Miller’s mask. The mask is near completion and will be auctioned off Feb. 23 at the Dice and Ice fundraising event in Vancouver.
Williams has also donated three pieces over the years to the Bill Reid Foundation. The Bill Reid Foundation, according to Williams, supports its gallery through fundraising auctions and it also runs programs for up-and-coming artists. This year he will donate a 35-inch carving depicting a solar eclipse made from yellow cedar.
These donations are raising William’s profile as an artist and he is proud to say that tourists began coming to Yuquot in search of him.
“There’s people from the Victoria Yacht Club, who have read up on me and stopped by my shop in Yuquot; probably 70 per cent of my sales come from tourists,” said Williams.
Besides the boost in sales, Williams says donating to such notable foundations makes him feel honoured that he can help.
“I want to do more for them every year; and it helps my name, bringing it up there as an artist,” he added.
As for that anonymous sponsor that supported him in school, Williams said he never found out who she was but he thinks about her and wonders if she’s still around.
“I thought it was pretty awesome (the sponsorship), but I never even met her. I want to go meet her sometime,” he shared. All he knows is that she was an older lady form Courtenay.
Williams and his wife recently moved to Hope where they purchased a house with a big workshop in back. He said he will spend his first summer there to see how his business does during the tourist season. He hopes to come back to the west coast someday, but says that depends on the tourist season and sales.
“I hope to have my own art exhibit someday,” said Williams, adding he is most proud of the donations he made. “It makes me really happy that I’m helping the kids and I hope to be a good influence to young artists and carvers.
For more information about Sanford Williams, visit his website at: www.sanfordwilliams.com
