You can find all sorts of wood carvers and wood sculptors at the American Folk Festival this year.

But Abram Barrett is in a category all his own.

Joy Hollowell introduces us to the Bangor artist behind "Soul of Wood."
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nat sound- electronically carving wood

Abram Barrett, Soul of Wood:"Every time I'm working with wood, I try and see how it feels inside of myself and inside the wood. I try to find the expression that comes out of the tree itself."

It's no wonder the name of Abram Barrett's studio is "Soul of Wood." The Bangor artist says it all started with a spoon.

"I just started making a wooden spoon one day. And it sort of caught on. And then I started making more sculptural wood spoons, and I fell in love with that."

Soon, Barrett was branching into bowls and bracelets. Now, he's amassed an incredible collection that will be featured at the American Folk Festival.

"The name of this one is called heart strings."

Thanks to a friend who's an exotic wood dealer, Barrett has quite a palette to choose from.

"This is purple heart wood, which is from Africa."

But many of his pieces also feature home-grown trees.

"This is native Maine cherry burl, native Maine birch."

Barrett believes it's the oddity of the wood itself that makes his artwork so special.

"The burls are what I like the most. The stuff that really is more obscure, that stuff that really has, the not so normal wood."

"This, I dug up behind my father's house, it is lilac root."

Barrett calls his craft therapeutic. Saying it soothes the mind, body and of course, soul.

"There is definitely a reciprocal relationship between the tree and myself. A more intimate relationship that happens when I start carving the wood."
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This will be Abram Barrett's first time at the American Folk Festival.

Soul of wood will be located among the craft vendors section of the waterfront.

You can also find Barrett's work online at www.soulofwood.com

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