The man who sculpts drywall

After years living out West travelling with his family and working in British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Alaska, Bernie Mitchell settled back near his original home on Pigeon Lake near Peterborough, Ontario about 17 years ago. A career drywall installer happy to work on his own, Bernie is now being recognized around the world for his unique dry wall sculptures, thanks to social media and YouTube. Some might even want to call him ‘Mitchell-Angelo’!

John Bleasby spoke with Bernie about his new-found fame.

You must have a creative background beyond drywall?

I did leather carvings when I was a teenager: belts, wallets, that sort of thing. And some pictoral carvings – some quite large, maybe 20 inches by 20 inches. It’s the same effect, just taken to drywall.

Your scenes are very dramatic. What is the creative process?
I’ve always done what the client wants. We pick a subject together. As we go through it, I like them to be involved. And the location is key. I’m pretty limited where I can do these. There always has to be an indirect light. For example, natural light going towards sculpture head-on has a negative effect. Since people know that I do these sculptures, they usually have me into the home during the pre-wiring stage so we can make special arrangements for the lighting we need.

Your YouTube videos show you using every day tools to shape your designs.
It’s pretty basic: a 4-inch drywall knife, a kitchen spoon and of course a little bit of a water mist on top. It’s a really forgiving material. When I did leather work, you made a mark and there was no going back. When you’re working with drywall mud, I can scribe it up, I can sand it, I can do multiple layers for texture. I can use a brush, a plastic bag for sweeping hair on a wolf, or even use some of my old leather modelling tools.

Do you have a secret mud recipe?
Years ago when I was first doing this, I didn’t have access to setting compounds; I wasn’t even aware of them. Everything was done with just drywall mud. It would shrink in the shallowest areas and crack. As those voids showed themselves, I’d have to wait and then fill the cracks up with additional product. Now I use a 90 setting compound with the pre-mix drywall mud.

You’ve had incredible interest expressed in your work recently.
I’m kind of surprised by all this. I’ve had inquiries from all over North America, Europe, even Abu Dhabi. It’s unbelievable. I’m really just a drywall guy, although I’m coming around to the fact that I am a bit of an artist. But it can be quite stressful. I maybe need to go in other directions and do more of my own ideas. Otherwise it might take the enjoyment out of what I’m doing.

This interview will also appear in the May/June print edition of Canadian Contractor

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