Art In Wood

John J Hasenau, Woodworking Biography:

I am a wood artist, always having a passion for wood working starting with shop classes in high school.  My father was a custom home builder which “allowed” me to learn both rough carpentry work and finish carpentry work as related to house building.  I went to college and earned a degree in Veterinary Medicine but kept woodworking as a constant passion, making chess boards and frames for pictures. 

I have been a member of the Nevada Wood Chucks Inc, wood working club for the past 4 years and as such have been working on building my skill sets primarily in Lathe and Scroll Saw works.  I have been working on developing more utilitarian wood art pieces and have done many pens, cork stoppers pepper grinders and bowls as examples of recent work.  I try to use highly figured woods (burls or splatted woods) to bring out unique grains and patterns when I do a project as I feel this enhances the art in the wood.
 
Artist Statement:

I believe in the art in wood, and that each piece of wood can have a unique and beautiful presentation based on it’s qualities.  I have had a strong attraction to using wood as an art medium and enjoy the textures and most often “inner” beauty as the wood is worked.  I have been amazed at the varieties of wood and I hope in my lifetime that I have the ability to work with the majority of the wood varieties.  I enjoy mostly using local woods and exploring with these their inner qualities by making utilitarian wooden art objects.  By doing so this allows the individuals to enjoy the object and have functionality with its use.