Craig Smith: An Artist in Multiple Mediums

When does an artist begin to shape his career? For Craig Smith, wood-carver, pumpkin-carver, and metal-shaper extraordinaire, it may have been in the third grade at .

"I carved a model of the Parthenon from a bar of soap. Ivory soap, I think," he said on a recent afternoon.

Smith, a mustachioed Fairfield native, has earned a living through his 61 years as a union carpenter (Local 210), blacksmith, machinist, and welder. But it is through his avocation as a versatile artist that he has achieved a measure of fame.

Chances are you’ve seen some of Smith’s creative work. His "Metal Monster," a 22-foot long, 10-foot high sculpture of antique farm equipment, is on display at the Beardsley Zoo. Congregants at Grace Methodist Church on Fairfield Woods Road gaze at his carved pumpkin, bearing the word "Energize," near the altar each Sunday.

From 1979 to 1986, Smith designed hand-carved putters that were given as trophies to winners of the men’s and women’s U.S. Open golf tournaments. Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Raymond Floyd, and Jan Stephenson were among the champions during this period.

For the 1980 Winter Olympics, he created a 150-pound welded metal sculpture depicting the events and sights of the games, which was displayed in the Hilton Hotel lobby and Olympic arena at Lake Placid. This piece of work got him a luncheon with Don Meredith, the late ABC sportscaster and Dallas Cowboys quarterback.

Inspired by the memories of Woodstock, Smith created 25th anniversary commemorative medallions for the 1994 Woodstock Music and Art Fair in Saugerties, N.Y.

His most recent work, a 23 x 24-inch pinewood relief carving of the , required some 300 hours to complete. Most of the project was accomplished this spring and summer on the waterfront at St. Mary’s by the Sea, where admiring passersby became accustomed to seeing Smith with his artwork.

In mid-September, he participated in the fundraiser held at the new Penfield Pavilion. The group is attempting to raise money on behalf of the town for an upcoming auction of the lighthouse that opened in 1874. Smith displayed his lighthouse carving and accepted donations in exchange for autographed prints he drew for the project.

In addition, his drawing of the lighthouse was used as a letterhead for the committee and on $3 pins that bear the notation, “I’m a Keeper.”

As a boy, Craig H. Smith led a "Tom Sawyer-type of life" growing up in the Lake Mohegan area. "I grew up in an atmosphere totally different from the kids today," he says. "We were always in the woods hunting and fishing. I remember a pig farm, a horse farm."

As a Boy Scout, he began to refine his carving skills, using a jackknife to create hiking sticks and neckerchief fasteners.

A near-fatal auto accident in northern Fairfield County -- "my Corvette rolled over, the engine burned up and all the wheels blew off" -- placed him in intensive care for three months in Danbury Hospital, and delayed his graduation from Andrew Warde High School. He received his diploma with the Class of 1971.

Smith also dabbled with engines during this period, too. Using a Volkswagen engine and spare parts, he built four versions of a three-wheel motorcycle. An early photo depicts him, hair blowing in the wind, at the wheel of one of these vehicles.

During the Halloween season, Smith is busy with pumpkin carvings. In 2010, he estimates that he carved 69 pumpkins, totaling 3,875 pounds.

Perhaps his grandest creation was a replica of Mt. Rushmore on a nearly 800-pound pumpkin, which required help from seven men to slide onto a tarp and load onto a truck. "Mt. Rushmore" was displayed at curbside of a friend’s property on Stillson Road.

"Reliefs on pumpkins can be very detailed," he says. "You can see people’s whiskers and hair."

Nicholas Hydic, a 27-year-old pumpkin grower and carver, considers Smith his mentor.

"He showed me the clay tools he uses. I took his advice and went out and got those tools."

In 2002, when Smith was working on a carving of the HMS Rose -- the retired British navy ship that was docked at Captain’s Cove -- a group of area motorcycle riders encouraged him to produce a piece with a motorcycle theme. This has led to his most time-consuming artwork, a 48-inch wide, 30-inch high pinewood carving of Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda riding motorcycles through the desert in a scene from the 1969 film, "Easy Rider."

Each summer, he may be found working on this piece at the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., an event he has attended for several years.

"People always ask me: 'Aren’t you don’t yet?'" he says. "It’s probably the most difficult piece I’ll do in my life."

His estimated completion date?

"Fantasizing-ly," he responds with a newly minted word, "it will be 2019. That will be the 50th anniversary of 'Easy Rider.'"