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Bill tells us he started working with wood when he was just seven years old and he tried his hand at carpentry at his father's job sites.
"I always like the smell of wood in the morning and made my first wooden box from some left over oak and found it very satisfying.
"Since then I've grown to find straight grained woods quite boring and now prefer highly charactered woods such as burls that Bev and I harvest from fallen maple trees in the north woods of Minnesota all the way to the highly figured Koa that I hand select from my friend Sam's private stock in Maui.
"Currently I am working on a large humidor that is made from very rare Kula Lace, also from Sam the wood man's Maui stash. To date, this Kula Lace is the most beautiful piece of wood I have ever seen. I get so attached to some of these pieces that they are just not for sale at any price. Rather, I would like to display them as I am now doing in the lobby of Lovers Key Beach Club and Resort as well as some other locations in Minnesota.
"There are some items that I do produce for sale, such as cigar ashtrays, pens, wine holders, eggs. hand held mirrors and shibui (shi - boo' - ee). Shibui is a form of artisan woodwork that Sam from Maui taught me. Sam tells me that it is Japanese for `the beauty in the nature' and involves cutting open one side of an otherwise scraggly piece of wood, finding a beautiful burl spalting or other high character pattern inside, then polishing the newly exposed wood and displaying it usually in front of a mirror.
"Although I have been doing this kind of work as a hobby for many years, I feel there is vastness of knowledge, experience and creativity out there that I have yet to tap into. I look forward to the days when I have more time to do just that."
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Seashells
