 |
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||
| Ric Erkes was born in 1956 into a military family. Following his father's steps he joined the Air Force and became a pilot.
This involved several moves along the way where there always seemed to be another basement or laundry room that needed remodeling. This provided the seed of Ric's woodworking skills. After joining the civilian world of flying and having more free time, he discovered a concept called "Hobbies." |
|||||||||
| Naturally, it involved woodworking. Ric bought a small lathe to repair the legs of an old Oak chair purchased at an auction. Later, while playing on the lathe, Ric turned his first bowl and was hooked. After another move, and the obligatory basement remodeling, Ric joined the North Carolina Woodturners and has now been pursuing his woodturning passion for 6 years. He has since won numerous awards at local art fairs and his work is carried in several galleries. | |||||||||
| To further improve his skills, Ric turns a variety of styles and shapes. This has the added benefit of keeping his passion alive and exciting. The inherent challenge of woodturning is to take each piece and combine the natural beauty of the wood with the skill of the artist. This is why each of Ric's pieces are signed with both his name and the type of wood. Woodturning as an art form allows the artist to work with form, color, and patterns in a tactile medium that has it's own natural warmth. A turner has the option to turn a preconceived form, or to allow natural imperfections such as bark inclusions and cracks dictate what the wood wants to be. Ric hopes that you appreciate the final form as much as he enjoyed the challenge of making it. |
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||