Cypress Wood Carver Henry Watson Preserves Louisiana’s Past
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On a quiet morning beneath moss-laced oaks in Pointe Coupee Parish, I met a man who listens to wood. Not just any wood, but aged cypress wood, weathered by time and reclaimed from forgotten barns and collapsing cabins. In the hands of folk artist Henry Watson a cypress wood carver, these discarded remnants become intricate bas-reliefs that tell the stories of Louisiana’s past one chisel mark at a time.
Henry’s studio is tucked inside a cabin near New Roads, Louisiana, where riverboats glide by and visitors from around the world step into a living narrative. Here, art is not static. It breathes with the weight of memory and the rhythm of a craftsman’s mallet.
Carving Memory into Cypress
Henry Watson begins a new carving, sketching directly onto salvaged cypress wood.
Watson’s journey as a cypress wood carver began in high school in his hometown of Livonia. This was long before his work would reach galleries around the world or the Vatican. Back then, he was just a young man experimenting with texture and form, shaping the same wood that had framed his childhood landscape.
“I’m trying to save that bygone era of not just washing away and not have any history of it. I’m putting it into something where you can still look at it every day.” — Henry Watson
Watson begins each piece with salvaged wood that he gathers from abandoned homes and barns scattered along Louisiana’s rural backroads. Each board is a blank slate waiting to be imagined into memory.
“Wash Day” by Henry Watson, a scene of everyday life in rural Louisiana.
“So I start with a blank board like this, and I start just imagining what was there. I love the trees. Because the trees were a very important part of life.” — Henry Watson
His compositions are filled with towering oak trees covered in Spanish moss. They frame wooden cabins, churches, and porches that once shaped Louisiana’s working and family life.
“Most of all of the historical homes and buildings were built around these huge oak trees… and those trees would have moss hanging down. All of that captivated me, you know, those days of old.” — Henry Watson
A Retreat into Solitude and Storytelling
Henry Watson with Karen LeBlanc at Butler Greenwood Plantation, where he retreats to work in solitude.
I joined Henry at Butler Greenwood Plantation Bed and Breakfast in St. Francisville, where he sometimes retreats to work in peace. This early 19th-century estate with its sprawling grounds and quiet, moss-draped canopy feels like a page from a fading Southern novel. That is exactly what draws him in.
“I’m thinking about how things would have been 100 years ago. I get inspired by just looking at the trees and the home itself and even the plants and things that surround it. I mean, I’ll tell the story. My job as a woodcarver is to capture those memories and those stories.” — Henry Watson
“Bayou Rouge” by Henry Watson, inspired by Louisiana’s quiet bayou life.
Watson is drawn to the beauty that still lives in these historic sites. His attention lingers on trunks and limbs, branches and textures, which are the silent witnesses to time.
“Look at this. This is Louisiana at its finest. Yeah. And a lot of it on the property all over this place is just great with it.” — Henry Watson
“Parlange Plantation” by Henry Watson reflects the grandeur and memory of Louisiana’s historic homes.
Watson often works in places like Butler Greenwood Plantation, where the land itself holds memory. For him, these sites are filled with stories waiting to be carved into wood.
“Somewhere, somewhere tucked away is a little cabin, old barn with that wood.” — Henry Watson
A Legacy in Every Chisel Mark
His still carving after 40 years, with the same mallet that shaped his legacy.
In Henry’s New Roads studio, the rhythm of hammer and mallet continues without pause. Among his tools is a well-worn mallet, aged and smooth from over forty years of use.
“I’ve been chiseling and beating with this for over 40 years. So you got to know with 40 years of intimately, this at some point is going to be this. And when that happens, this man is going to be retired.” — Henry Watson
“Going Home” by Henry Watson captures a scene of rural labor and memory.
He raised the mallet with care. It is more than a tool. It holds his story.
“The mallet is going to retire, but are you going to retire?” — Henry Watson
Of course, the answer is no.
His carvings have reached far beyond Louisiana. One of his portraits, showing Pope John Paul II, is displayed in the Vatican. Another piece, originally sold at the 1984 World’s Fair, still hangs in his studio. It is a time capsule preserved in cypress.
Art as Living History
A magazine featuring Watson’s artwork welcomes visitors to New Roads.
Back in New Roads, travelers from riverboat cruises often stop by Henry’s studio. They come curious and leave with a deeper understanding of Louisiana’s past. His dioramas and reliefs, carved from salvaged cypress boards, are more than art. They are recovered memory.
“I go continue to tell the story of South Louisiana. Everybody’s becoming where they grew up, where they come from. But when I put it in as hunter, your wood is going to live on forever.” — Henry Watson
“Baton Rouge” by Henry Watson, a tribute carved in paint, connecting memory, service, and place.
There is something enduring in his work. Each piece becomes a handmade resistance to forgetting. With every salvaged board, Watson turns decay into dignity.
Why Henry Watson’s Work Matters
The H. Major House in Livonia, carved and painted into cypress.
Henry Watson’s sculptures are not just creative expressions. They are acts of cultural preservation. In each groove of cypress, in every frame of a cabin or silhouette of a tree, is a sincere commitment to place, memory, and legacy.
His studio work continues, guided by story, memory, and hand.
His art does not romanticize the past. It remembers it with detail and reverence. He listens to what the land has to say. Then he speaks back through his hands.
“This is a culture thing.”— Henry Watson
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