Artist – Bill Arbour
I have many memories of spending hours gathering rocks and minerals from Northern Ontario. Everywhere it seems I would bring a pocket full of treasures ready to be researched and catalogued. It seems everywhere I look there would be treasures that would need to be discovered. Today adventurers / vacations are always chosen with rocks in mind.
Over the last 20 years I have been running a software company with a slogan of “standardized solutions”. The creative outlet inside of me has taken the best of me and now I prefer to create a reflection of an item by extending its beauty. That could be in wood in the creation of custom furniture or with gems in creating jewelry.
While increasing my knowledge in woodworking I had the chance to take courses at the Rosewoods School of woodworking. There I was introduced to the ways of James Krenov. James Krenov often used the word to express his passion and relationship with woodworking and cabinet making.
“I’m an amateur and always will be. That’s the way I want to die. I’m an amateur by nature and I’m an amateur in fact. …David Pye wrote somewhere that the best work of this century would certainly be done by amateurs.” – James Krenov
I will not mass produce items but rather reflect and take my time to increase the beauty of an item found in nature. Be it a tree in the form of furniture of a gem in the form of jewelry. Either way the material must drive the design.