The manufacturer has been engaged in wood production since 1980. He began to show a close relationship with this material and its processing only at the threshold of his forties – in the mid-70s, when he found refuge from difficult times at the Technical University in Košice. Initially, he materialized his love for Gothic in wood, transforming it with inspiration from old stone Gothic windows from churches in Levoča, Prague, or České Budějovice. However, he was also attracted to the folk concept of woodcarving. He especially liked the forms of shingles or butter, and in Košice, during visits to the academic sculptor Vojtech Löffler, he discovered in his rich collections of traditional art beautiful forms for gingerbread cookies.

He is a self-taught woodcarver. As an intellectual, he had a lot of knowledge from books, museums, and ÚĽUV stores that he regularly visited and still visits together with his wife, who is also an admirer of folk art. After a period of effort, he tried to submit his works for assessment by the visual artists of ÚĽUV. As he himself says, at first, they didn’t really like his products, but he persevered, and in 1979, the arts committee approved his first products. The collaboration continued consistently until 2020.

ÚĽUV artists, especially Janka Menkynová, sent him photos of products he could make, and it was up to him to decide which ones he would pursue. Once he joined the ÚĽUV family, he also had the opportunity to communicate with other manufacturers. For example, he learned about the kyjatické toys through the master of folk art production, Rudolf Stehlík from Veľké Teriakovce. He received prototypes of products, patterns, tips for tools from him. He still greatly appreciates the first tools and technical equipment, whether manual or machine, he acquired. When he started selling his products – made primarily for his own pleasure, he also gained means to purchase tools (chisels, lathe, milling machines, fret saw, etc.). He works exclusively with dry wood, which he has stored for more than ten years. He enjoys working with lime wood, but also loves carving in oak, which stands out for its wood color. He made furniture out of red spruce.

Karol Strnište characterizes himself more as a craftsman than an artist. He does not consider himself an exceptional carver – he can handle reliefs, but not sculptures. He is drawn to carpentry work. He furnished his cottage in Smižianska Maša on the edge of picturesque Slovak Paradise with a dresser, shelves, a writing desk, or a whole carved wall in the spirit of the decoration of council benches from the church in Levoča. There he lives and creates to this day.

In his current work during the internet era, he likes to be inspired by images from Pinterest. This is how he came across another material that appealed to him – bone. He makes three-dimensional animals from it, combining the whiteness of this material with the darkness of wood. Creating even in his advanced age brings peace to his soul. He never wanted to be the best at all costs – he does it because it fulfills him.

Source: Mikolaj, T., Thank you to the manufacturer Karol Strnište, 2021

In 2023, he presented his products at the collective traveling exhibition “Kyjatické inspirations” at the Design Studio of ÚĽUV in Bratislava, at the Regional Craft Center in Košice, and at the museum of the First Slovak Gymnasium in Revúca.