Brian Hall , shown here at a woodcarving demonstration at the Christmas Spirit Shop, is a Maine artist who uses a hammer and chisel to carve Santas from old wooden lobster buoys. His carvings are his way of preserving the traditional cedar buoys that have been replaced with today's styrofoam and plastic buoys. Each has a different size, shape and color. Lobster buoys are floating location markers for lobster traps that sit on the ocean bottom. Each buoy is tied by a rope to the trap so Lobstermen can haul their traps full of lobster into their boats, and lower the empty, baited traps back into the ocean.
Lobstermen use individual colors and numbers to mark their buoys.
Years ago, each lobsterman would make his own lobster buoys out of wood, in the size and shape he felt was best. Today's lobstermen buy manufactured styrofoam and plastic buoys which are much lighter and easier to work with. Many of the old wooden buoys were burned for firewood, so they are becoming harder for the artist to find. All rights reserved.