Gerald Wocken

Gerald has been working wood since about 1960. He left his day job (as a tech writer, project manager, and rocket scientist) a few years ago and is now a full-time woodworker and volunteer. His recent arts and crafts items include both turned and hand-shaped bowls, vases, bottle stoppers and walking sticks. He has also designed and made furniture, trade show displays, puzzles, board games, toys, wands, and coasters, and sometimes still does. His work is currently in collections from North Dakota to Florida and Arizona and is exhibited in the Huntsville Arts League juried gallery in Huntsville, AL. He has participated in several juried shows. His work was selected in 2018 for commemorative gifts from the city of Huntsville to Toyota and Mazda to celebrate the groundbreaking and opening of their joint factory. He has been doing business as ‘Timberline Arts’ since 1975.

Gerald’s work strives to respect the natural organic form, figure, and color of the wood, with minimal use of other materials when necessary to enhance the beauty and function of the piece. The wood guides the tools in creating – or releasing – the final art from its home. Many pieces retain the natural edges and negative spaces of the original material. Each piece is hand shaped, so no two pieces are identical, even when they are made from the same branch. The finished pieces can stand alone as works of art or perform a utilitarian function.

The wood for each piece is usually selected and cut (or dug up) by the artist from dead or damaged trees, often during post-storm volunteer cleanup work. A weekend of cutting and hauling tornado or hurricane debris may yield only enough good wood for a bowl and a bottle stopper, but they have a backstory, and have been rescued from the firewood pile.

Phone: 256-653-2048

Email: TimberLineArts@gmail.com