Kwakwaka'wakw carver and First Nations artist working in red cedar and paint — masks, panels, and paddles cut by hand, one piece at a time, from the workshop at Alert Bay.
A simple man, shaped by the land, the ocean, and a lifelong devotion to art. A few minutes inside Ross Henderson's world.
Ross Henderson is a full-time Kwakwaka'wakw carver — one of a small number of artists still cutting Northwest Coast formline entirely by hand. Every piece is one of a kind.
Born in 1970 and based in Alert Bay — a Kwakwaka'wakw community off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island — Ross belongs to one of the great carving traditions of the Northwest Coast.
It is one of the most distinctive art forms in the world — the flowing black formline, the ovoids and U-forms, the crest beings that hold a family's history in wood.
He first picked up a knife as a teenager, learning the old lines from his great-grandfather, Gideon Whonnock.
Formline is not taken from a book. It passes from one carver to the next — corrected by an elder's eye until the curve is true.
Every piece begins as a plank of red cedar. The design is drawn, then cut away by hand until only the line is left — and the black and red are laid in with a brush.
A Sun, a Butterfly, a Raven, a Hamatsa mask: each one carved, painted, and finished in the workshop at Alert Bay, one at a time.
Ross has carved full time since 2005 — work shown through galleries in Vancouver and carried on commission, including a commemorative paddle for the Rocky Mountaineer.
No two pieces are ever alike. Increasingly, they go straight from his hands to the people who collect them. Commissions are open.
Each piece is hand-carved and painted in red cedar, in the Northwest Coast formline tradition of the Kwakwaka'wakw — the butterfly, the Sun, the Raven, and the ceremonial masks. Every work is one-of-a-kind First Nations West Coast art, available directly from the studio at Alert Bay and shipped worldwide.
Every piece begins as a plank of red cedar and a drawn line. The formline is set down first, then cut by hand — the slow work of taking away everything that is not the design.
A roundel takes shape in red cedar — the design cut away by hand over many days, until only the line remains.
From the studio · Alert BayCommission your own — a crest, a story, a team.
No two commissions are alike. Ross has carved everything from traditional crest figures to fully custom paddles — including team commissions for the BC Lions and NHL clubs — each one drawn, carved, and painted by hand for the person who asked for it.
Start a commission →
Tell Ross what you have in mind — a crest, a story, a team, a gift.
He draws the formline and agrees the piece, size, and timeline with you.
Cut from red cedar and painted in the studio at Alert Bay.
Signed by the artist and shipped — one of a kind.
Premium oversized hoodies and matching sets in bone, espresso, and black, each stitched with the RH mark. The first drop sold out.
Not every piece is one of a kind — some are made to share. Limited signed prints of Ross's work, and studio apparel, so the art can travel further than the originals.
Premium hoodies & matching sets, stitched with the RH mark. First drop sold out.
See the collection →Edition sizes, pricing & release dates announced soon · join the list to hear first
Every piece is carved and painted by hand, signed by the artist, and carries the story of what it holds. Acquire an available work, commission something new, or join the list for first access to what comes next — direct from the studio at Alert Bay.
