Texas Folklife Festival
27+ Years
The Artist
A Life Carved with Purpose
Herman Davis is a self-taught folk artist and woodcarver based in Beaumont, Texas. He began carving in the early 1990s and quickly discovered that working with wood was more than a hobby — it became a way to steady the mind, connect with people, and share stories.
A Vietnam veteran who served as a Navy medical technician attached to the Marine division beginning in 1969, Herman returned home, built a career at Mobil, and later found that art became both healer and ministry. He calls his practice the Ministry of Wood.
His work spans traditional woodcarving — animals, people, religious figures, flowers, and birds — often using found objects such as driftwood and tree stumps. He is equally known for his distinctive book-folding art: transforming ordinary books into three-dimensional names, words, and forms by carefully folding each page by hand.
Herman is a longtime performer and demonstrator at the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio, a recipient of the Beaumont Arts Council’s Arts Award, and a member of the Southeast Texas Wood Carvers Guild and the Texas Woodcarvers Guild. He has taught woodcarving to children and adults at the Beaumont Public Library, the Beaumont Art League, and schools across Southeast Texas.
Whether giving away a carved flower or folding a server’s name into the pages of a book before the food arrives, Herman’s art is rooted in relationship and generosity.
30+
Years Carving
27+
Years at Folklife
Vet
Vietnam Service
