| View Work | Artists | |
 Ron Ufkes |
After a stint in the U.S. Army and earning a
Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Illinois, I worked as
a Park Ranger with the National Park Service for several years. In 1969
I began a 20 year career with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s
Department in California. After retiring from that position, I was
employed as an investigator in the defense industry for several years,
finally calling it quits in 1997. My wife, Janice, and I had spent part of two vacations in the Ozarks and found that we loved the mountains, lakes, forests, and people. We both knew that this is where we wanted to be, and we now live in the small town of Lakeview, Arkansas, about 85 miles south-east of Springfield, Missouri. |
|
I’ve been turning wood for about 20 years, but those familiar with
irregular work hours and long commutes know that there is not much
spare time. Since retirement though, I can usually be found in my
shop working on the lathe. I do love to collect my wood, but I rarely cut a living tree. It is not that I am philosophically opposed to harvesting trees, it is just that there is so much wood in this area that is discarded as a worthless nuisance that it is really unnecessary. Often, after a storm, I will throw my chain saw into the back of my pickup truck and drive around the community to see what has blown down. Nearly all of my work is from trees brought down by storms or which were removed by city crews for one reason or another and were to be burned. I’m sorry to say that wood turning has not revealed the meaning of life nor disclosed any of the deep philosophical insights that some have experienced while practicing their art. But I do enjoy the sound of the tools cutting into the wood blank and watching the ever changing patterns in the wood as the waste is cut away. And, of course, it is also very gratifying when you find that someone liked your work enough to actually pay money for it. I am a member of the American Association of Woodturners and the Arkansas Craft Guild. I have attended several instructional demonstrations by Mike Kornblum, a professional woodturner living in Mountain Home and received instruction from Liam O’Neil, an Irish Woodturner and Clay Foster, an internationally known turner from Texas. However, I have, for the most part, learned turning by studying the techniques of those skilled turners who are also authors. Many of my design ideas come from the internet, especially by researching the pottery sites. Many of those designs can be adopted by the turner because the lathe is very like a potter’s wheel turned to the horizontal with wood as the medium. |
|
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
501.324.ARTS (2787)
Copyright © 2002-2007 River Market ArtSpace