Ron turns native North Carolina woods into beautiful family heirlooms, hummingbird houses, bowls, boxes, plate and platter, Christmas tree ornaments, ect…

He tries to never cut a living tree for turning but instead uses those destined for the fireplace or wood stove, the landfill or just left to rot on the forest floor. The wood that he turns comes primarily from dead trees being cleared from someone’s yard, trees cut for right of way, a development or by the power company, or simply left behind by a logger.

Leaving his items as natural as possible they may bear the effects of beetles, decay, fungus often including the bark, cracks and voids left by nature. Sometimes he embellishes the wood with pyrography or wood burning, texturing with special texturing spiraling tools and coloring with dyes or paint. Ron has turned everything from poison ivy to black walnut. He tries to label each wood that he turns but sometimes it is just F.O.G. (found on the ground) wood.

His first instructor was Sid Oakley, a well-known potter in the Butner area but also an artist and wood worker. He has since studied at the John C. Campbell Folk School and at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and is a member of the North Carolina Woodturners, Piedmont Triad Woodturners, the Carolina Mountain Woodturners and the National Association of Woodturners.

He has exhibited at several local exhibitions and the International Symposium of the National Association of Woodturners. When asked, “What your kind favorite of wood is to turn?” his reply is, “Something that grows on trees.”