Give Tean Fletcher some little stick of wood, and chances are she’ll turn it into a work of art. Seven years ago the Mathews resident began turning pencils into aged wood spirits and Santa Clauses, and she hasn’t stopped since.

Her work is both mystical and whimsical, appealing to the child in everyone.

A graphic artist by trade, Fletcher said she can’t draw a lick, but give her something three-dimensional and her creative instincts kick in. It all started with Ben Richardson of Put-In Creek Carvings and the late Wade Brooks of Artistic Design Studio.

“Ben gave me a knife, and Wade cut out some practice shapes,” said Fletcher, “and I started fiddling around.”

She would carve on her breaks at work, and one day her daughter, who worked at a bank, gave Fletcher a bunch of pencils to carve for the bank. Then, while up in Richmond buying supplies at a woodcrafts store, Fletcher found out about a carving club and joined. The woman who in...