Rowan, a woodworker and the proprietor of Bankhead Gallery in New Albany, sees potential.
“I’ve come across a killer piece of black walnut and I can’t wait to make another box,” he said.
He’s also dreaming up plans about how to use a piece of wood from overseas that’s hundreds of years old.
“I’ve got more wood than I’ll ever use,” he said.
Much of the wood is from trees that were downed by a tornado in Pontotoc County in 2001. Rowan, who lives in Pontotoc, said people call him and offer trees, as well. But due to a space shortage in his shop, Rowan normally turns down the wood, unless it’s something special, he said, like an unusual piece of black walnut.
Unusual, in his opinion, means it has “grain with character.”
Rowan started learning woodworking in high school during a basic course. He thinks he might have made a tie rack or bookends back then.
“The main thing is knowing your joints and your angles,” he said. “And, of course, measure twice and cut once.”
It wasn’t until his middle daughter, Camille, was born 34 years ago that he made his first big furniture piece – a wooden baby cradle.
Now Rowan’s portfolio includes long bows, tables, bowls, benches, sideboards, jewelry boxes, quilt boxes, silverware chests, pencil boxes, a wine bottle carrier and a sugar chest.
“I’ve built some 300 boxes and no two have been alike,” he said.
Rowan’s woodworking projects fall into three categories. He has original pieces that he dreams up and makes, such as wooden sculptures, biscuit cutters and dough bowls.
He also refinishes and restores antique wooden pieces he buys at estate sales.
“Some pieces catch my eye and some don’t,” he said. “I don’t take orders. It’s really time-consuming and you need a lot of space to do it.”
He also makes custom pieces that clients order.
It’s common for customers to ask him to make pieces out of sentimental pieces of wood, such as a family piano from 1898 or a board from an old business.
“Right now I’m building a hall table with Texas longhorns as the front legs,” he said. “I’ve got to build a walnut swing and a sofa that will be hung from the ceiling.”
But because he wants to make sure he gets the custom hanging pieces right, he’s going to build a similar love seat first “to see how that goes.”
“I’ve got about six things to build right now and there’s always the other stuff that you’re wanting to build,” he said.
Some pieces, like the bowls, might take him a few hours to make. Others, such as a custom sideboard, may take about a year because he’ll work on it off and on.
“You can’t hurry woodworking,” he said. “You have to take your time. … I try to build stuff like I’m building it for myself.”
“I’ve almost always got a piece in the shop,” he said. “If I’m working on this project and I get stumped on it, I usually have a bowl or a rolling pin on the lathe and I’ll work on that. I try not to get put down by a piece of wood.”
The creative juices flow throughout the Rowan family. His wife, Jan, does quilting and embroidery and is one of the 32 artists features in Bankhead Gallery.
The couple’s youngest daughter, Lauren Cornett, also got the crafty gene, with her medium being textiles. In addition, she runs the gallery during the week.
Her husband, Chris, shares in the family’s crafting. He makes working diddley bows that are decorated with folk art paintings of things like catfish or Elvis Presley.
Rowan, whose oldest daughter is Leigh Ann, credits his mother with starting the crafting trend in the family.
“She did painting without any instruction,” he said. “To me, it’s just a challenge and what end results you come out with.”
He said the next skill he wants to learn is metalworking.
“I’ve got an anvil and a blower now,” he said. “When I get caught up on my woodworking, that’s my next project – make some hinges.”
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Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, http://nems360.com/
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AP-CS-10-10-10 1120EDT
