Silent Carving

Located in South Ostrobothnia, Jurva is renowned for its strong and innovative woodworking and carving tradition. The region has a long history in woodcraft, particularly in furniture making and decorative carving, both of which have contributed to the emergence of Jurva’s distinctive carving style.

Unlike other carving techniques, the Jurva tradition does not involve loud hammering with a mallet. Instead, it uses soft wood, such as linden, over which a sharp gouge glides like a brush across canvas.

Jurva carving not only creates beautiful patterns on the surface of the wood but also brings a sense of harmony to both the maker and the surrounding space. This calm, almost meditative technique is what I have named “silent carving.”

Unique Technique

I arrived in Jurva in the mid-1990s, having become fascinated with carving in Brazil and learning about the unique Jurva carving technique.

Jurva was not just any place when it came to woodcarving. It had a reputation – at least among those who paid attention to such things – for its tradition of decorative furniture carving. The style was historically charming and affectionately known as the peasant’s rococo – an Ostrobothnian, rustic interpretation of the ornate 18th-century style. Decorative, yes, but down-to-earth. Nothing ostentatious. Just skilled hands shaping graceful curves into stubborn wood.

But what struck me – and made this place truly special – was the silence.

Unlike in many other carving traditions, carvers in Ostrobothnia did not use mallets. Not at all. No rhythmic tapping, no hammer blows, no echoing thuds in the workshops. Only the quiet sweep of steel against wood. They had developed a unique way of sharpening their chisels: a gentler edge, shaped for its specific purpose and honed to a 17-degree bevel – far shallower than the usual 45 degrees. The tools were tuned like musical instruments, and the work was done entirely by hand, with steadiness and skill.

I studied for two years and then stayed on to teach. In my second year of teaching, I faced a particular challenge: how to explain to foreign students what made our carving style so different from the methods they were used to?

That was when I began calling the Jurva style Silent Carving..

The Origin of Creative Carving

Over the years, Silent Carving began to evolve into something even more unique, as I wanted to push the boundaries of carving further. What if, instead of practical furniture, I used the Jurva technique to carve a surprising painting full of emotion and movement?

Thus the birth of Creative Woodcarving.

I wanted to create an artistic form of expression that combines painting and carving:

From painting, I brought with me certain elements:

A vibrant use of colour full of emotion
An airy space between forms, a lightness of being
The line as movement, breath and vitality

From carving I preserved:

The structure of form – the physical foundation that wood demands
The dialogue between light and shadow – how form reveals and conceals
And above all a deep respect for the material: wood must be listened to, not merely shaped!

One of the distinctive features of my technique is how colour takes shape during the process. I never treat carving and painting as separate stages – they progress side by side. Carving, with its three-dimensionality, creates varying surfaces of light and shadow within the work. The carved surface calls for more colour, which in turn seeps into the grain of the wood, adding layers to the piece. This process repeats until the work is complete.