Anyone who has been to a farmers’ market or craft fair in the area has likely seen his work. Smith makes “just about anything that you can imagine that’s round.” This includes rolling pins, Christmas ornaments of all sizes, magic wands, wooden mushrooms, jewelry, and more.
“Primarily the inspiration is from just having a fascination with wood,” he said, “and being able to take a grey, weathered piece of wood from the forest and open it up and to be able to share that with people.”
It seems to attract his customers, too. This year alone he has sold his wares at farmers’ markets in Souris, Boissevain, Deloraine, and Lake Metigoshe, as well as various other artisan and craft markets in the area.
“It feels good to connect with people at markets,” he said. “Everybody has a story, and often I have a story about the piece they are looking at.”
He said that local support this year has blown him away. Aside from success at markets, customers have approached him to do some custom work as well. People of all ages and backgrounds are attracted to his work.
“I noticed that at markets people will either walk by and have no interest in the things that I have there, which is fine, because there’s no attraction to the wood,” he said. “Then there’s other people who walk by that immediately come over and pick something up and handle it, and you can see they have a connection. It’s a smile on their face or they’re very intently feeling it with their hands. It’s a draw, and
I don’t know exactly what it is but it’s definitely there.”
Obviously, he can relate, because he feels it as well.
“Working with wood is just a big part of who I am. I think it’s something that brings back memories of my grandfather,” he said. “Everywhere I go I’m looking at sticks and trees and wood. For me, it becomes overwhelming sometimes, just the obsession, or the fascination.”
That fascination has led him to working with woods that may not be as common, like lilac and caragana, as well as hazel and willow. He said that lilac and caragana not only have beautiful grain patterns and brilliant colours like yellow and purple, but they are also abundant in the area, making them readily available for foraging.
“When I’m out walking in the woods I always have a little handsaw with me and the challenge is not to bring home too much,” he said with an almost guilty smile. “There is always a stick or something that I see that I know I can use. More often than not it ends up in the burn pile but occasionally you get some real gems.”
Once he finds a piece that works, there is something satisfying about the turning and creation process that keeps bringing him back to the art.
“It’s the feel, and the patterns when I’m turning certain woods, like lilac,” he said. “Some pieces have a certain, almost, lubricity. They feel like they’re waxed when you’re cutting, and if your tool is sharp it just becomes so easy to form what I picture in my head and want to produce.”
The majority of the wood he uses is reclaimed, mostly due to the unique beauty in the variations nature can make.
“I find most of the wood I gather is dead,” he said. “There’s a benefit in taking advantage of the decay, that’s more what I’m into. A piece of wood will start out very decayed, with worms eating the bottom, then as you work up the stick it changes. If I made 10 ornaments out of it, each one would be different.”
The next market he will be attending is at the International Peace Gardens for Santa Day on December 6. While he loves going to markets and talking to people there, he also sells online on Etsy and Instagram. In fact, he has built a small fanbase on social media, as well as connections with makers all over the world, which has inspired him to expand the reach of his “Made in Manitoba” products. He would like to start going to larger markets in Brandon and Winnipeg, and maybe even take his business on the road and tour from the west coast. If everything continues to go well, he would eventually like to open a storefront, too.
Whatever happens, it is clear that Smith has a loving connection to his art and that he will continue working with wood and honing his skills as long as he can.
by JACQUIE MAYNARD, Recorder staff