Featured Seller: artwood

Who are you ?
Hi, I'm Art Knowles. I market my fine woodwork as Artwood, my carpentry as Word of Mouth Carpentry.

Where are you located?
I live out in the country north of Durham near Rougemont.

What do you create?
I make earrings and pendants, lamps, cremation urns, and furniture out of solid woods in their natural colors. I also work in stained glass, batik, cement sculpture, assemblage, photography, and music.

What is your favorite place to visit in the "triangle"?
My favorite Triangle place to visit is the Durham Art Guild, which regularly shows impressive local work.

When did you start creating?
I started doing creative work in my late teens: drawing, playing guitar, writing, and making jewelry. Working as a boatbuilder and carpenter a few years later introduced me to the beauty of wood, which eventually became my favorite medium.

Where do you create?
I do most of my work in the workshop I've built at my house. It's passive solar, with a big porch situated to catch the breezes in hot weather, and plenty of elbow room.

Why did you choose your company name?
My sweetheart, who is a poet, coined Artwood when we needed a name for my Etsy shop.

What is you most popular item that you create ?
My most popular work is my earrings, which are one-of-a-kind, striking, and affordable.

What is your favorite place to sell your items?
I love selling them online -- it's so easy for my customers and for me, too.

What is the most time-consuming process of your art?
The most time-consuming part of my work is sanding, sanding, sanding.

--Check out Art's Flickr Photostream for more pictures of his amazing work and see why he was chosen by the Durham Arts Council as an Emerging Artist for 2009!