A Passion for Woodworking

Tucked away in a small corner of his garage, Curt Wilkins is turning out countless pieces of artwork on a scroll saw his wife bought for him after he retired in 1999.

Although he dabbled in woodworking over the years, Wilkins said he was never really much into the craft — until he retired  and had the time to pursue the hobby.

Today, although he doesn’t consider himself a true artist, he is making one-of-a-kind masterpieces every time he turns on the saw.

Wilkins and two other artists, Nell Rose Brown and Peggy Underwood, will be displaying their work at the Mary Bishop Gallery at the Crawfordsville Public Library. The new exhibit, “The Way of the Brush and Scroll Saw Designs,” opened Tuesday and will run through the end of June.

Wilkins said he originally started making his pieces to give to family and friends. It wasn’t until his kids told him he needed to slow down that he decided to start selling his pieces.

“They told me I needed to slow down because they were running out of wall space,” he said.

Since then, Wilkins has been selling his pieces at shows around central Indiana and in Florida during the winter.

Wilkins’ pieces feature a wide variety of animal scenes — a pair of raccoons sitting in a knot hole of a piece of wood, bears and deer.

Those patterns with curves in them are the easiest to work with, he said. Straight lines are harder to cut because of the way the saw is made.

Wilkins takes extreme care with every piece — the more intricate the pieces, the more challenging they are. Since starting to work on the more intricate patterns he has fallen in love with the hobby.

The majority of the time spent on the pieces is in the finishing of them, he said. The average piece can take up to 30 hours to complete.

Along with making a variety of wall hangings, he also designed the front of a pie safe that sits in the living room of the his house. The pie safe features a wide variety of animals.

Wilkins said although the intricate work of his pieces may look difficult, it is something that anyone can do.

“The saw is a safe saw to use; it is something that anyon can use,” he said.

While Wilkins’ work is showcased in the display cases at the library, the work of Underwood and Brown hangs on the walls.

Brown, a member of the Jail House Artists, works mainly in oils. She has no formal art training, but has taught herself different techniques by reading books and practicing.

What's new @ CDPL?: The Way of the Brush & Scroll Saw Designs

Nell Rose Brown has been a member of our community for the past three years. She paints every first and third Tuesday morning at the Rotary Jail Museum with a mixed group of artists who enjoy sharing their knowledge in different mediums with one another. All are welcome in this group from beginners to more experienced artists. On the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, Nell Rose paints with Mike Bowman at the Library from 6:00 pm to 8 pm. This class is also an informal group who share information on art and welcome all ages and talents. The first art medium Nell Rose became acquainted with several years ago was oil which she continues to paint in today. She has no formal art training, but has taken classes from various artists, read books and done a lot of practicing. "Practice," says Nell Ruth "is the key to anything you love to do". Art remains a hobby for her, but she loves looking at a blank canvas and bringing it to life with brushes and paint. Nell Ruth is currently a member of the Covered Bridge Art Gallery in Rockville, Indiana and shows her paintings there and is a Jailhouse Artist. This past winter was unusually snowy and seemed to last much longer than usual, causing sometimes noisy complaints from the multitudes. But Peggy Underwood was not one of them. This artist/photographer enjoyed great beauty each day of the winter just by looking out her window at the graceful maple tree fitted with a large bird feeder hanging from one of its limbs. There she found so many birds awaiting their turn at the feeder that the tree appeared to be filled with color. She saw bright red male Cardinals, the rose chest and heads of the House Finch, the bright yellow of the American Goldfinch and the soft down hues of the Dove. Occasional Blue Jays made their appearance at the call of angry, hungry squirrels. Several dead branches on the tree provided food for the downy, red-headed and pileated woodpeckers. These colors, combined with the morning sunlight spilling onto freshly fallen snow, made the winter season spectacular for Peggy Underwood who, with her camera, made it memorable. The more photos she took, the more bird varieties appeared in her camera's eye. These included Hawks, and Bald Eagles. Peggy asks us to browse through the gallery, enjoying the extraordinary color and beauty of Indiana birds and wildlife that perhaps you may have missed during the enduring cold, icy season Hoosiers call WINTER!

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