We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mark Caron a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mark, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I learned from just trying in the start. Get in front of the machine, chuck up a piece of wood and experiment. See what the individual tools are capable of, see what YOU are capable of, refine your style until your skill level can no longer keep up, and then?, find a mentor. Taking classes are a great way to learn more techniques, and it’s a lot of fun! But to learn, I mean really learn your craft it takes mentor. A mentor will guide you through the rough parts of refining your craft, and you. They can answer the tough questions with honest answers and enable you to reveal your true potential.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Wood Turning, yep we did that in shop class , my dad, grand dad, great grand dad did that, we saw it in a crafts demonstration and on and on and on. From the start that’s the usual response i get from people who ask how i make the pieces i show. The fact is, it’s a very small part of the actual art form. First is the sourcing and cutting of the wood that will be your blanks that you will work with. Next, we have to look at the cut blank and decide how its going to look when its done, from the raw grain of the tree that you have in front of you. then the actual roughing of the blank to make the basic shape takes place. It’s only then that you see how much work you have in front of you. It may need time to dry further, it might need to be stabilized, or have inlay poured before final turning. once the shape is finished, hollowing can take 1/3 of the total time to finish the piece. Sanding, LOTS of sanding before a final finish can be applied. Its a bit more complex and involved than it looks!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect? Seeing my vision become reality. To experience that one fleeting moment when the vision in your heart and mind is now sitting there on the bench in front of you.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My Goal? To tell my story. It takes a lot of forms, the journey to obtain my raw material, the endless hours of trying and failing, trying and succeeding, the hours spent fighting myself and mother nature to make the wood bend to my vision, only to find out there was a vision already in the wood, i just failed to see it. So all of these and more go into the telling of the story of how i got here, and why i never want to leave.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.markcaron.com
• Instagram: Mark Caron Wood Art
• Facebook: Mark Caron Wood Art

Image Credits

Natasha Mishano, Photography by Natasha