Archives for Wood

Adventures in Wood

Adventures in Wood

December 8, 2025 | by

  Tucked inside a former bunk-house on a 5,600-acre farm 30 miles north of Great Falls, Montana, Richard Charlson is turning wood. The word “turning” can be defined two ways: using a lathe to shape wood and then taking several more steps to turn that wood into beautifully crafted works of art. Turning wood wasn’t in Charlson’s original life plan. He is a fourth-generation farmer, growing several types of grains as well as canola seeds on the land his great grandfather started farming in 1912. In 1985, Charlson began to make signs in his spare time, initially for a quarter
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Celebrating Imagination, Wit, and Joy

Celebrating Imagination, Wit, and Joy

December 8, 2025 | by

  Lisa Gordon has always been crazy about horses. That love took root when she was 12, growing up in Southern California. A shy child, her parents hoped that the responsibility of caring for a horse would bring her out of her shell. “As a teenager, I rode and trained horses almost every day,” Gordon says. “They were my whole world. I competed, cared for them, and built my life around that bond. That relationship has never left me; it’s central to who I am and what I create today.” It’s no surprise that Gordon sculpts horses, though her approach
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The Beauty of Birds

The Beauty of Birds

August 7, 2025 | by

  As long as there are birds in the skies, Bill Rice will sculpt them. That’s essentially the work ethic, the focus, and the passion with which he has been operating for more than 40 years as an artist who specializes in avian wood carvings. The winner of several awards, including the 2024 People’s Choice Award at the Adirondack Experience Museum in Blue Mountain, New York, Rice’s home is in an area of Connecticut where he can walk outside and see different types of birds every day. Summer walks with his wife, photographer Brooke Rice, present endless subject matter. “This
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Still Going Strong

Still Going Strong

July 2, 2020 | by

Artists will tell you that creating art is a career—but it’s not a job. Why is that? They see creating art as a calling that is so intense it cannot be ignored no matter the risk. And there is indeed risk, financial as well as personal. They put their work out into the world, where everyone who sees it will judge it. If it’s deemed worthy, it will sell. If not, it’s on to the next painting or sculpture, determined to do better. The four artists we feature on the following pages have a combined age of 344 years and
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Tributes in Wood

Tributes in Wood

July 14, 2019 | by

“I love seeing something beautiful, emotional, and spiritual emerge from something so earthy and natural.” So says Bob Boomer, who has been carving magical figures from wood for some five decades now, earning high praise and amassing an impressive roster of collectors, along the way. While at one time he was carving up to 50 pieces each year, he has slowed down somewhat, cutting that number to 20. Each of those carvings is a wondrous work so beautifully crafted that it almost begs to be touched, caressed. The detail, the textures, the lines and colors of the wood are mesmerizing—and
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Three-Dimensional Delights

Three-Dimensional Delights

July 15, 2018 | by

I made my first—and, as I recall, my last—attempts at sculpting when I was in elementary school. Those “works of art” consisted of an ashtray—why, I don’t know; neither of my parents smoked—and an elephant with several holes on its back, strategically placed to hold pencils. I quickly learned that art was not my calling and turned to other endeavors. Fortunately for us, the five artists we feature here did not give up so easily. Of course, they had the talent—and the fortitude—to pursue their dreams of becoming artists and, in the process, have brought immeasurable joy to countless art
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