Building a greater appreciation of Bermuda's gombey heritage is the mission of two prolific wood carvers, Carlton Butler and Duvall (Dagga) Spencer, and they believe the way to go is through art - public as well as their own, and the gombeys are a subject particularly dear to Mr. Spencer's heart.

"We think gombeys should be public art like the Johnny Barnes and Sir George Somers statues. People should be able to to go a park and see art that reflects the people of that society, and the gombeys are definitely a beautiful subject to talk about," Mr. Spencer says. "We have to get back to giving a positive message that influences people to do the right thing and respect each other and our respective cultures."

In fact, the two friends also share a cherished dream: to have a permanent gallery centred on the gombey theme.

"We think from the gombey culture a lot of people will become very interested in culture," Mr. Spencer says. "We also believe that the gombeys are becoming a domestic icon of Bermudian culture, and represent truth-telling for a whole generation of people in learning the story of their own history and truth.

Meanwhile, Mr. Spencer has carved many beautifully detailed gombey figures over the years - the result, he says, of a "complete fascination" with what he regards as part of his personal heritage.

"I am gombey, meaning my family line and my spiritual line is revealed as gombey," he says. "My family taught me about my history and made me excited about learning more about who I was. Even though I don't dance or masquerade in gombey garb, I still consider myself gombey."

Even a brief viewing of each man's work confirms that both are gifted carvers whose craftsmanship is an inspiration, particularly when one considers that they are mostly self-taught.

From boyhood, Mr. Spencer was interested in art and could "draw anything". At Northlands school he passed his GCE in art, but never imagined it could become a career, so from the age of 16 for the next 14 years he never gave art a thought - until just before his son, Taariq, was born, when a work colleague, Ernest Trott, inspired him.

"He was shaving down the small branch of Bermuda cedar, which he carved into an eagle and a skull," he remembers. "He had a little carpet cutting knife, and one day I asked him if I could try it. One thing led to another and I couldn't put things down. He was surprised. He would take hours and hours and sand his pieces of wood down, and I would do it in minutes. I was always looking for a piece of wood to whittle, and I just kept going."

Thanks to those early days, when there were always scraps of cedar at his job site, Mr. Spencer developed a real love of Bermuda's favourite wood.

"For me, Bermuda Cedar tells its own story," he says. "The wood is a big part of Bermuda's history, and Bermudians have a real affection for it. It is very aromatic and intoxicating. Cedar calls me by name."

With 13 years' experience behind him as a wood carver, Mr. Spence admits that he has come a long way from those early days, but he still looks up to Mr. Butler, who has 34 years' experience, studying his technique or style, and says that if he has a challenge about which direction he wants to take on a piece, he has no hesitation in consulting with his longtime friend.

"I have gained a wealth of knowledge from Carlton in narrative, style and storytelling, and how to articulate a story in wood," he says.

In addition to his many gombey figures, Mr. Spencer has also carved his biggest piece to date: a 33-inch high figure of a Pequot St. David's Islander, which is destined to be part of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Centre permanent collection in the US; and also what he believes may be the largest hand-carved piece in Bermuda - an eight foot by ten foot Virginia cedar mural of two tall ships, which is now in a private collection.

"There is no limit to what I can do. I am proud to say I can carve absolutely anything, and I have carved just about everything you can think of, from flowers to animals, people, houses, boats - you name it. If I can conceive it, I can achieve it."

Like many dedicated craftsmen, Mr. Spencer is anxious to pass on his skills to the younger generation, so that the art lives on. In 1995 he joined forces with Mr. Butler to form the Woodcarver's Guild, membership of which has grown to 19, and about a third of whom are youngsters under 17.

"They get a lot of enjoyment out of carving, but material is a challenge. You can't readily cut Bermuda cedar, it has to be fallen," he says. "Cedar is the only wood for us, although I have carved Virginia cedar, which is much cheaper."

In addition to passing an art form to the next generation, Mr. Spencer also sees it as a way to nurture talent as a positive outlet for young men in particular to keep them out of trouble.

"We believe there are a lot of guys out there who have never tried to go to college and get a Bachelor's or Master's degree, but who have a "bachelor's degree" in street knowledge, and if there is no outlet for them other than what the streets are offering, then we are going to have a lot of problems in the future.

"There are a lot of people with talent who, if they are given encouragement to nurture it, will save the community a lot of headaches, time and money.

While admitting that it is difficult to make a living solely as a wood carver in Bermuda, Mr. Spencer has no intention of giving up what he does best.

"Carving is my therapy," he says. "It takes your mind off things that distract you in life."

And there is their dream of the permanent gallery centred on the gombey theme still to be fulfilled, of course.

"We are in the process of finding more gallery space," Mr. Spencer says. "Through the Woodworkers' Guild we have programmes for teaching young people how to carve. I am the chairman and managing director and Carlton is the leading teacher. With 34 years' experience, he has the wisdom and wealth of information on how you get to shape your ideas, characterise, and then sculpt them and make them a part of tomorrow's art repository because his work is going to be around for a lifetime and longer."

Mr. Butler envisions an art museum with different galleries. One for painting, textiles, ceramics and photography. A gallery for their own work; one for other artists; and a gallery for school children's work. The plan would aim to bring all of the various artists together.

In addition, the two men want to start a business selling their work. In fact, Mr. Spencer has special equipment which will allow him to mass produce an original carving. They admit, however, that - as with other art forms - it is a question of making a sustainable living.

"Wood carving is not an industry that sells for us. We are like the oddballs in the carpentry industry. `Why don't you get a real job?' people ask. There is more money in doors than in statues," Mr. Spencer says.

Mr. Butler traces his love of art back to primary school, but it wasn't until he attended Berkeley Institute on scholarship that he gained his first experience of sculpture.

"I had the privilege of having the late Charles Lloyd Tucker as my art teacher. He was teaching sculpture, so I took one of my mother's dinner knives, broke the tip off and sharpened it and used it as a chisel to do my first piece, which was supposed to be a woman," he says. "I took it to school to show it off because I was so proud of it. It was then that Mr. Tucker gave me my first real tool, a rasp. He also gave me a piece of cedar with two holes in it and told me to finish it off. I just kept going from there and now it's been 34 years."

After leaving school, he continued to improve his skills in his spare time, while working in the hotel industry and saving his money, which eventually he used to enrol in the Jamaican School of Art, which was part of the country's Cultural Training School.

In the ensuing years, the divorced father of three has endured many personal difficulties and setbacks, but says, "Throughout it all I have never lost faith in my art".

"If I didn't have my carving I would self-destruct."

Meanwhile, Mr. Butler continues to work in his "open air studio" on the roadside by the gas station on the Main Road, Somerset. There, passersby regularly stop to watch him carve and enjoy talking to him about his work. School children are also always fascinated, and often ask him to make them something. Wisely, his response is always the same: "I am not going to make anything for you, but I will teach you how carve things yourself if you are interested."

"I have taught a lot of people just by them watching and studying what I do," he says.

Completely self-taught, Mr. Butler likes to do figures and what he calls "primitive art" such as is found in Haiti. Queen Nefertiti is a subject that has fascinated him from the very beginning, and at one stage he had done about 300 small carvings of her head.

"It was the African story that (attracted) my attention, and still does," Mr. Butler says. "Thousands of years after her death, men still talk about Nefertiti."

Asked to sum up his approach to his art today, Mr. Butler says: "I try to do pieces that not only look pretty but have a function. I try to tell a story or have some sort of message in my work."

Meanwhile, the Woodworkers Guild is fully behind the Ministry of the Environment's current campaign to plant indigenous trees, and specifically cedars, after Hurricane Fabian. Already, Mr. Spencer and some of the youngsters whom the Guild is teaching to carve have accumulated over 30,000 cedar berries, which they will soon present to the appropriate authorities, even as they continue to collect more. After all, the more cedars that populate the landscape, the greater the chances of there being a sufficient supply of the much-loved wood for future generations of woodworkers to use.