As we talked, Herman Davis pulled a random book from his bag and started folding pages. Without pause, he explained his process. On the table in front of him, a book stood with it pages fanned out. This particular book was folded so “Love” was visible.
“Making Love in a book, “Davis laughed.
Already well-known in the area for his wood carvings, Davis turned to book art during the COVID-19 lockdown. He watched online videos and realized that people had to have a pattern to get started.
“But I started seeing that I could do it without a pattern,” he said. “What I did is like a kindergarten kid. I started learning every letter and every number. I could take any book, and I almost feel the book and know my name could fit in that. A lot of people say, ‘Oh, my name is too long.’ But doing it as I’ve been doing it, I can cheat here and there. I can conform to the book.
“Then I found out that I could do images as time went on. I always tell people we can all do things, we just don’t know it. And that’s how I am. I’m a positive person and I know that you could do all things. I call it through the Christ in me.”
The Beaumont native said the books are a gateway to meeting people, acting as a business card.
“If I’m in a restaurant doing this, other people come to my table — it’s like a bee to honey,” Davis said.
Davis works fast and plays a game with wait staff at restaurants. He gets the server’s name and tries to create their name in a book before the food arrives. When they say they want to take a picture with it, he gives them the book.
Davis is a Vietnam veteran, where he served for four years starting in 1969. He was a medical technician in the Navy attached to the Marine division. He married his wife Rose, and following his service, he returned to Beaumont to work at Mobil.
While Rose was pregnant, she started knitting and making other crafts. Davis wanted to create works himself.
“I worked around the ship channel, and we had a lot of driftwood out there,” he said. “I saw a stick out there and said, ‘Hm, I’ll make a little stick about my boss, because he’s always telling me to go pick up trash in a river.’ So, I made a little bald-headed man, and everybody’s looking at it.”
Shortly after, Davis said he went to the mall to see a woodcarver’s show featuring a man named Whittling Sid from Silsbee. The Art Studio’s Greg Busceme was judging the show.
“I had folk art stuff, and I didn’t know what to put what categories to put them in,” Davis said. “I got excited, because I had a lot of little things I had done over a period of time, and I brought it over to the show. I ended up winning first place, second place, third place, judge’s choice.”
Davis was invited to go to the Silsbee schools through the Performing Visual Arts Program affiliated with the Silsbee Ice House. He still goes there every year.
After working for Mobil for 20 years, Davis retired in 1992 following an accident that saw a co-worker killed.
“Being a Vietnam veteran, my psychologist told me, ‘I’m not going to send you back to work, because you’ve got post-traumatic stress,’” Davis said. “I didn’t know what that was. And then all of a sudden, he retired me after a year. I just continued doing my art to keep me stable. And that’s what kept me good.”
For 27 years, Davis was a regular at the Texas Folklife Festival. He has also earned grants to do demonstrations and workshops at schools across Southeast Texas, as well as festivals around the area. Davis said he sometimes is commissioned to show off his skills at parties or promotional events.
In 2001, Conn’s needed someone to demonstrate a chainsaw.
“The Frigidaire company man came in town, and he asked me if I could do a demonstration,” Davis said. “So, he set me up for 11 days, and I did 30 different animals over 11 days of meticulous chainsaw, a pole chainsaw. It lasted that long time.”
The 73-year-old doesn’t charge for the books or carved flowers and birds. He said he sees it as part of his mission.
“I say this is the best way to do ministry, I call it a ministry of wood — artist Herman Davis, Ministry of Wood.”
Davis’ work is on display at the Theodore Johns Library throughout November. He is often found there, working on books, whittling flowers to give away. The library’s display cases feature a lifetime of art, including sculpted logs, and lots of books. He has a goal to do a book for every member of his extended family, which, considering he is one of 10 siblings, may take some time.
It is fascinating to see the wide variety of artifacts Davis has created over the years. The display cabinets are almost bursting with objects. He has another exhibit at the library in February, which he laughed as he said there will be a lot of making love in books for Valentine’s month.
Like his work, Davis is an open book. He loves meeting people through his art.
“What it is, is relationships,” he said. “And I found out you get more of that. It helps me understand that each one of us be able to give that wisdom out to people that way.”
For more information, visit hermandavis.com.