Creating Something New From Nature

By: Angie Stryker

If you start asking questions around Wedowee about who has talent, it's so fun to heat the tales and stories emerge. The exclamations, "Oh you must talk to so and so," or, "Have you seen what this person can do?" all come flowing out and are then followed by rabbit trails that turn into a glorious adventure in talent finding.

Driftwood Art

One such character whom we just needed to talk to was Tina Wiggins. We started out just looking for driftwood art but were given so much more. Tina has created stained glass for many years. She created colorful creatures that were inspired by the lake. Then, when she started finding driftwood pieces, she cleverly perched her Lake Wedowee animals atop of the driftwood. There are herons and bass and the results are spectacular!

Wood Turning

Talk to one artist and they will point you to another. Tina let us know about John Beatty, a local woodworker. When speaking with John he said, "I do woodturning for my art. I try to show the beauty God puts under the bark and in imperfections. I have been a carpenter for 50 years and done anything from framing to furniture. I find more artistic fun in woodturning."

John hosted the monthly Southeastern Wood Turners when he lived in Georgia, out in his shop. He had a plexiglass window between the viewers and the wood turning, with cameras and TVs for all the people in the back to see. It was quite the setup.

Now he lives in Wedowee full time, and is working on his own home. Mostly so that he can have his own shop back and get back to the art that he loves, John loves living in Wedowee, he loves talking about his good fortune of living here and the friends he has and loves to talk about the beauty of the trees that he works.

"The good lord puts a lot into a tree that you never get to see. He did all that – with my art, I'm just showing you how to see it."

One such piece took him two years to complete. After the Atlanta icon Zestos lost its giant tree, John took a piece home and started to turn it. As he became aware of what was inside, he moved and shaped it and watched in amazement as the beauty of the wood emerged into the piece it is today.

While John doesn't sell his pieces, he loves to do wood turning for the art and for the teaching. He supports other local artists as well. One of those artists is another local, Mark Matthews.

Mark had a booth at the Art and Crafts on the Median selling his beautiful work and his buddy John was out there with him helping. John works the wood until the art emerges, Mark is a little more practical in his wood turning. At his booth there were gorgeous bowls, wine stoppers, pens, and all sorts of wooden delights.

You may recognize Mark if you have been "beyond the lake" in the Old Waters Inn blue bus (new name forthcoming). He's the bus driver! He also makes the wine stoppers that you see at the Lake Wedowee Winery.

Mark came to Wedowee from Georgia as well and know John at the woodturning meetups. Lyme Disease just about took him out 7 years ago. That's when he decided to retire so he could focus on his health. He's in recovery now and is so thankful to be here in Wedowee, being a bus driver and turning wood into lovely creations with the rest of his time.

We are honored to be able to showcase the talented creators in our community.