On Grotesque Carvings

Clark Ashton Smith

I have worked entirely on carving since December, and so far have turned out about twenty-six new pieces. Only a few of these are grotesques, since I have got to experimenting with the ornamental possibilities of my materials and have made small flower-vases, trays, liquor-cups, candlesticks and even rings and a brooch on a scarf-pin. Also there are six tobacco- pipes, three of which have been disposed of. One of the remaining pipes is a grotesque which I call Water Wizard: the bowl representing the wizard' s head, and the mouthpiece his familiar in the shape of a black fish. The stem is made from a rare species of bamboo with yellow and purplish mottlings. I am planning more pipes, one to represent Tsathoggua, and the other an inhabitant of Innsmouth. Among the other new carvings I have a figurine entitled Primal Fish, which I am pricing at $8.00; a bust entitled Visitor from Outside at $6.50; and a half-length statuette, Progeny of Azathoth, which is a little on the lines of The Elder God, though with more animation in face and tentacles; this I am pricing at $8.00.

Printed from: www.eldritchdark.com/writings/nonfiction/48
Printed on: March 29, 2024