“Some of the best conversations that I’ve had are when I’m sitting down with a student and a piece of wood, and we just start whittling together.”

Sculptor Christopher B. Wagner loves to save wood from the scrap heap and carve it into something beautiful. His facility with wood is something to behold, the result of a big range of influences: early life as a farm kid in Kentucky to a fellowship studying under master carvers in Japan. He often uses those skills to depict relationships between people and animals, with a healthy dose of whimsy.

Wagner has lived and carved all over the United States, including a long stint in Oregon where he and I collaborated on several shows. Now he’s putting down roots in Virginia and making new work, some inspired by his new teaching job at the College of William & Mary near Colonial Williamsburg. As he gave me a tour of his new workspace, we covered lots of tips and tricks, including his favorite tools, how teaching helps his practice as an artist and how he keeps from checking his phone during precious studio time.

Find his work here.