We recently connected with Eric Tomlinson and have shared our conversation below.

Eric, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the more recent projects that really stands out as being meaningful is our very first Carousel figure as our own company. While my wife and I were building All Around Carousels, we started doing traveling work since we didn’t have a shop space yet. We had the Scovill Zoo in Illinois ask us if we were at a point to start building our own figures while we were there for some touch up work. After we were able to secure our shop, they were one of the first people we reached out to asking if they were still interested. They were! They really wanted a giraffe. So we started in with the prep work of finding the needed boards and gluing them together. When the glue was set on the different pieces, one of our carvers worked the pattern into the the blocks and then hand carved the details and features into the giraffe.
Once the carving was finished, the entire surface of the figure was hand sanded and then hand primed. Once it’s ready, the entire body is hand painted, from tip of the tail to the top of the ears. This is done in several steps, so it takes time since the paint needs to dry between each detail. When the painting is finished then I do a couple layers of a protective varnish that not only protects the paint from scuffs and fast wear but also gives the classic Carousel figure shine.
The Giraffe was recently installed on the Scovill Zoo Carousel and waiting for its first rider.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi, my name is Eric Tomlinson. My wife and I have 2 daughters, 5 and 3 years old. Together, we own and operate our business: All Around Carousels, where we build and restore carousels and figures.

I never planned or dreamed of working on carousels while growing up. I have always enjoyed art, so I pursued that passion and attended the Ohio State University Art Program. After graduation, I worked for the Columbus Museum of Art for a while. I grew up in Mansfield, Ohio, which is a good hour drive, and so I would often go home on my days off. I decided to find a job closer and to move back home after my dad had his widowmaker heart attack. He was given only a 7% chance of survival after they revived him. I knew mom was going to need help around the house during his recovery. So I knew I needed to job hunt around home. Just so happens that my sister in law saw an advertisement for a local company that builds carousels. I was hired the same day I applied at Carousel Works. I worked for them for around 11 years. I started as “just” a painter and then grew to be head of the paint department, lead on all the traveling touch up trips, took part in nearly every carousel install and was promoted to project manager. I was devastated when I was laid off from Carousel Works when they ran into hard times. Because my wife and I had a 6 month old, I couldn’t wait long for them and had to find a new job. When they had to officially close their doors and we heard everything was going to auction, we wanted to see if we could save anything. Just so happens, other friends received word through the grapevine of a contact and gave me their info. We were able to save a large majority of the contents of Carousel Works and most importantly, the patterns used to create what we know as carousel figures, before they were dispersed at auction. Together, my wife and I, with lots of help from my parents, friends and family, have started our business of restoring and creating new carousels and their figures. We also provide consultation services, and pieces and parts of figures that people may need for their own restorations. Each of our carousel figures is built from a stack of boards and a bottle of glue. We don’t use machines for our figures. Every one is hand built, hand carved and hand painted. Just like they were 100+ years ago.
What makes our business unique is that it is literally one of just a handful of companies that exist across the world. And of those few, most of them use either c&c machines to do their carving, or they are fiberglass. Because we still do it the old fashioned way, we rely on our Master Carvers who all create each piece, one stroke at a time with their chisels. Then each figure is hand sanded and then hand painted. The Master craftsmanship takes time and lots of elbow grease. These aren’t mass produced. We get many calls from people wanting something created for cheap and fast. Most of our figures need a minimum of 8 weeks from start to finish by someone who has perfected their craft over decades.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Originally our goal with starting our own business was to keep doing something I loved. Then it grew into the desire to save, utilize and carry on the history created by Carousel Works. As our daughters have grown though, they have really began expressing their love of painting and drawing. Our 5 yr old has had 3 surgeries for ear tube placement because she keeps losing her hearing from fluid build up. She has really dove into drawing and expressing herself through her art. Her younger sister loves building crafts, especially if there is paint involved.
We are hoping that we will be able to help them grow in their love of art and find their own personal passions.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding aspects of being in the carousel industry is the people and places. I have been fortunate to build carousels all around the world and visit places I didn’t think I would ever be able to. With Carousel Works, I have put carousels on cruise ships in French shipyards, been on multiple cruises while working on a carousel, been to South Korea multiple times, and I have traveled all over the United States painting and building carousels for parks, zoos, private collectors and more. The people you meet are some of the nicest people you could imagine. All because we love these wooden creatures.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.allaroundcarousels.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/allaroundcarousels?igsh=aHJ2anI2aWZ1c2Ez
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100080520723652&mibextid=ZbWKwL