In the beginning was the wood...

Well, not exactly. More like "in the beginning was the wife."

After twenty plus years managing our music ministry, my lovely wife, Pam, suggested I get out of the house and find a hobby. I made it all the way to the garage.

My adventure in woodworking actually began by repairing guitars. I set up a little shop in my garage, bought some tools, and I was hooked - first fine-tuning my own instruments then finding some cheap guitars I could rebuild and sell. The more I built, the more tools I needed, and the more tools I had, the more different things I could build! I started making small gifts for family and friends, then moved on to decorative crosses and candle luminaries we could sell at our concerts.

Then came the great Covid pandemic of 2020 which promptly ground our touring ministry to a halt. I had lots of time on my hands, a pretty good collection of tools and a variety of wood scraps from other generous woodworkers I had gotten to know. My creative juices started flowing and before long I had transformed those scraps into a bird feeder with a pagoda shape and a wind chime (minus the chime) that I painted like the American flag and called a Spinner. I was pretty pleased with the results and posted a picture on Facebook in May 2020. Friends started requesting my creations and to this day I haven't caught up with the orders! In August, when approaching my 100th spinner build, I decided I might be on to something and Harmony Heartwood Designs was born!

What's in a name?

Regardless of the fact that painted pieces launched this adventure, my favorite creations allow the wood's natural beauty to shine through. Each species has a unique color, texture and feel, and when blended together create a Harmony that is music to the eyes.

Heartwood is the dense inner portion of a tree that produces the hardest timber with the richest color. Like people, true beauty often lies beneath the surface. With patience, careful attention and hard work, even the most common log (or person!) can yield a truly amazing work of art.

Where will this woodworking journey take me? Who knows? But right now it is calling me back to the garage. There's a fine looking slab of walnut just waiting on my workbench!