About The Artist
Jerry Crowe was raised on
a small farm in the woody Ozark hills of Missouri. After serving in the US
Navy and Air Force, he went into the restaurant business. He eventually
made his way to the South Pacific where he worked as a hotel chef in Ponape and
then Saipan. While there, he built a house, and when he needed spindles
for a staircase, he found that he'd have to make his own.
"Without any previous experience using a lathe, I turned spindles," he said. "I haven't stopped turning wood since."
These days, Crowe spends most of his time in the studio at his lathe, or out searching for special pieces of wood that will make the perfect bowls. He uses Ozark woods like apple, cherry, elm, maple, locust, redbud, pine, box elder, mulberry, sassafras, tulip, poplar, walnut, persimmon, cedar, and sycamore.
"Burls from any tree
are my favorite to turn," he said. "Mother Nature has made the
color of the wood as close to perfect as possible, so my pieces are never
stained or colored." Crowe also adds, "Some of the wood I use is
recycled from a local logging company -- from firewood to art."
Using accents of crushed stones, including turquoise, malachite, and lapis, Crowe highlights grains and imperfections in the wood he turns.
Crowe compares his experience, 35 years of experience as a chef, to his new career as a woodturner. "Both disciplines," he said, "involve searching for the best ingredients, and proper preparation and presentation."
With food or wood, he feels, on the table, you have a creation of beauty from the heart. There is a difference between food and wood as well. With food, certain dishes are prepared the same each time they are ordered, but each wood piece is unique. All of Crowe's pieces are one of a kind, signed and numbered.
"When I put my name on the bottom, I'm saying 'this is my best attempt to show off the beauty in this piece of wood, and if you enjoy the piece as much as I've enjoyed its making, then my efforts have been a success'," Crowe states.
Jerry and his wife, Anne, now live on a farm outside Cassville, Missouri.
Unique Turnings
13858 State Highway Y
Cassville, MO. 65625
Email: jerrcrowe@outlook.com
Phone: 417-847-2742
© Copyright 2005 Unique Turnings. All rights reserved.