North Carolina Artist

Explore luke's art

Sculpture

Lichterman's masterful woodworking skills coupled with his unique access to wood sustainably harvested from his own property craft stunning pieces of art from whole round timber. His works often feature sensuous female forms and faces that conjure a sense of mystery and intrigue.

Paintings

Lichterman's transition from a seaman to an artist was marked by a shift from the concrete to the surreal. While his paintings express himself in bold colors and graphic geometric forms, many of his paintings reflect his oceanic experiences in abstract and dreamlike ways. These paintings evoke the mysteries of the sea from his former life as a maritime contractor delivering yachts and sailboats, an adventurous career cut short by a grave incident in the middle of a Pacific Ocean storm.

Show Less

3-D Multimedia

With an exploration of 3-D artworks, with clay cast in epoxy of longevity, Lichterman merges his sculpting and painting skills in a fusion of textures, materials, and creative expression. “When I start (a piece), I start with a simple concept and as I work, it changes; it morphs. It’s kind of a meditation. When I’m done, I’m always surp

Show Less

The North Carolina Artist Studio: Where Creativity Thrives

I live in a hardwood forest in North Carolina, surrounded by the very materials that inspire my work.

In recent years, I’ve discovered a new medium for my art painting with acrylics on plywood. As a

self-taught artist, my journey is one of personal discovery, often leading me to innovative techniques and fresh perspectives in the art world.

The forest I call home provides solace in its peaceful chaos and sustenance in the materials it offers for my craft. I deeply value these aspects of nature and strive to maintain its ecological balance through sustainable forestry practices. I harvest only downed trees, or those showing signs of rot, infestation, or terminal damage.

Unlike most woodcarvers who work with milled lumber, I sculpt natural, whole-round timber. Commissions are negotiable, with lead times varying based on the scope of the project, my current workload, and the availability of suitable timber.

In the 1950s, I apprenticed with my grandfather, an old-world carpenter, and learned that concepts like ‘Square,’ ‘Level,’ and ‘True’ were foreign to my dyslexic mind. However, I discovered that with a suitable piece of wood and a knife, chisel, or gouge, I could carve decorative, sculptural forms.

Between the 1950s and 1970s, I served in the U.S. Army, married, fathered children, faced business failures, and experienced a divorce. In a state of emotional turmoil, as I was preparing to leave our home and go to sea, I rediscovered my grandfather’s tools.

Opening that old chest was an epiphany. It had been years since it was last opened, and the scent of old iron and dried oil that wafted out brought me back to my grandfather’s side and simultaneously thrust me forward into the next chapter of my life.

This version adjusts some sentence structures for smoother readability, clarifies some points, and refines the flow of your story. Let me know if you want to tweak anything further!