Capital Woodcarvers Association

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Featured CWA carver Diana Kwan: Born in Shanghai, raised in Hong Kong, Diana came to featuring Asian themes in her carvings naturally. In addition to Chinese, Japanese and Korean themes, she has been influenced by Native American, African and European touches through the years. Diana says,” I am open to many ideas”, Her work reflect that perspective,  If you have seen her beautiful carvings (if you haven’t you should) you will know that she combines relief and chip carving.  While that is somewhat unique, her real claim to fame is the inclusion of color in her pieces. That has turned her carvings into works of art that have been featured in high end art shows and have brought her international recognition and many commissions for elaborate pieces in homes and at the State Capitol building. This recognition and fame did not come easily, it was the result of years of hard work and dedication to excellence.

Diana studied Microbiology in the late 60’s at SF State.  She also played field hockey as she had done in high school in Hong Kong, almost going to the Olympics in 1968 (ask her about that one).  She met her husband, Stan in Microbiology class at SFS.. After they were married, she gave up her career to raise 3 kids. 

Her entry into wood carving began in 1975. She says she “felt like carving” and went to a hobby store to buy some cheap tools and a piece of wood.  She still has that first carving. Three years later she saw a CWA show at Florin Mall and signed up for the club. Her first CWA meeting was at a member’s house. That was 43^rd years ago and she has been a member ever since, serving as President (4 times), Secretary, Newsletter Editor and Show Chair and She remembers everyone being very friendly and generous —just like now. She is currently the CWA Show Chair.

Diana focused on relief carving until the mid 1980s when the club brought Wayne Barton, a famous chip carver to Sacramento for a five-day class. Diana realized that chip carving “would benefit in design with my reliefs.” At first, she carved the familiar chip carving style of geometric designs. Then she began to perfect her technique and create more and more elaborate designs. After she became a CWA member in 1978 she started   participating and entering into competition in numerous woodcarving shows all over California, and she made many friends.

Eventually, she incorporated color into her chip carving, defining a whole new style that is still largely hers alone. CCG had discussions whether the new style was chip carving or a separate category. After a lot of discussion, they decided to just include Diana’s pieces in the regular Chip carving category. Diana’s view is, “Chip carving is a style of carving using one knife (in my case) to incise and cut out pieces of wood (usually basswood) to create designs.”

There is an ongoing discussion about whether wood carving is an art form, a craft or just a hobby. Diana’s color addition and creative free form designs answered that question, and she began entering her work in juried art shows.

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, she was accepted into galleries—The Artist’s Collaborative Gallery, The Artery, Sutter, Auburn.  Then, she challenged herself to apply for prestigious fine art shows where her work had to be subjected to juried selection.  She was accepted by many high end shows. where her work had to be subjected to juried selection—Sausalito, San Francisco Women’s Show, Sacramento Art Festival, Davis Art Center, Crocker Art Show, Crocker-Kingsley Art Show, Blue Line Shows. I asked her if she thought that the combination of free form chip carving and painting created a unique kind of wood carving more suitable to fine art shows than the majority of carving styles.  She said that there is a bias against wood carving. People think it is a craft. A turning or an abstract wall hanging is considered more art than a relief or caricature carving, Diana opened a lot of eyes toward wood carving with her painted chip carvings, some of which are very large.  She has been an ambassador for wood carving in the world of high-end shows. She has a solo show planned for September 2021 at The Artery in Davis.

As her work became known, she took on many commissioned pieces, in Relief and Chip for private homes, businesses and churches. These include mantels, furniture, communion tables, altars, cabinets, balusters, a desk for the Legislature and furniture for the Senate Hearing Room in the State Capitol. Her decorative pieces hang in many homes in this country. Since her work was in galleries visited by international visitors her carvings are all over the world.

Diana summarized her carving experience this way: “Never in a million years would I have thought to be a woodcarver.  Somehow woodcarving found me. As I have always said I enjoy the camaraderie and appreciate the generosity of the members and people I have met along the way.  I have always appreciated the traditional arts, things made by hand, by craftspeople.  Pretty cool to be in that group.”