We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Scott Rennie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Scott below.

Hi Scott, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

What’s the point of life if not to experience new things? My woodworking journey began in middle age, and most unexpectedly, as I just woke up one day and decided to carve landscapes into wood. It was a non-rational experience. I ran with it.

But I had much to learn. My normal approach to most things is “full speed ahead, let’s get it done!” This approach wasn’t of much use when it came to wood carving. For starters, the equipment can kill you. All woodworkers are either a) crazy (the most likely option) or b) simply unafraid of blood-thirsty spinning metal saw blades and router bits. Second, the creative process involves letting the juices flow; forcing them does nothing.

I found that focusing intently on each step in the process is part of what allows my creative process to emerge. I learned to refrain from the use of force. I learned to ready the individual pieces and arrange them each in their own way in their own time. When you are able to reach this place, time distorts and becomes a secondary concern. Your focus and attention are busy creating something new under the sun. And the quality of the outcome is determined by how well each individual step in the process is performed.

But there is even more to learn. Consider the technical side. Operating a CNC machine is a decades-old profession, and there exists a large body of knowledge that goes along with it. The basic principles of rotating chisels must be learned, along with the vocabulary, safe operation of the equipment, and the ins-and-outs of any particular machine. But don’t forget about the CAD/CAM software! This, too, must be learned from the ground up, and has a learning curve that can vary based on the program and the individual using it. And then there is LiDAR terrain data, the most technical part of this whole experience and historically gathered from orbit and made available by the U.S. government for anyone to use. It is not always available in convenient formats, making use of this raw data useful presents its own sets of challenges.

Learn how to learn better. Try something you’ve never done before. Be unafraid of failure. And take your time. All of this can be learned. All of this can be figured out. They say the right teacher shows up when the student is ready. And if you’re not willing to keep learning, what’s the point?

Scott, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I have a lifelong love of backpacking and the outdoors. As a former wilderness trip leader, I began my carving journey by carving those spectacular parts of nature where I have been lucky enough to spend time, like the Grand Canyon or the Smoky Mountains. Then one day I learned that NASA has some pretty darn good 3D models of different places around our solar system. So I started carving places I’ve only dreamed of going, like Mars and Pluto. One of the highlights of my adult life was a collaboration with a planetary scientist for an art show in Knoxville, Tennessee. My art is unusually dependent on an unknowable amount of work from countless engineers, technicians, machinists, and scientists. And I love to reinforce the notion that parts of this world are physical and can be assessed by science, and parts of it are not and cannot. My carvings capture an aspect of nature that is difficult to harness.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

The creative process for me is a process of letting things go, of quieting the internal chatter and concerns of everyday life. Only then can the creative force be accessed. No force is involved, in fact, the removal of will is necessary to let the creativity through. Think of it as a limitless outside energy that only comes to the fore in the absence of intention. It is not something I cause to happen; it is something I am able to allow to happen.

This force is sacred and comes from a place beyond time and money, and it reflects one of the highest possible human callings: to create something new under the sun. It is not necessarily sullied by financial concerns, but the need to make a living can introduce an unwanted force that has the ability to interfere with the creative process. The purpose of art is to create something that has never existed before in the universe, and money does not have the power to alter this fact.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The process of creating is a reward unto itself. When I get a chance to visit a carving that has been placed in other people’s hands, it’s like visiting an old friend. I have a page on my website with pictures of people holding my carvings. They all share a similar, happy grin, and knowing that my efforts have worked to increase the amount of happiness in the world is a most sublime joy.

Additionally, although most art is made to be seen and not touched, my carvings are very much made to be held. It’s one thing to see a beautiful carving of the Martian surface, it’s quite another to feel it. A scientist told me the best technique they have to experience extra-terrestrial worlds is viewing 3D imagery on a computer. My carvings can enlarge and increase an individual’s experience with essentially unknowable places.

The most rewarding aspect of my art is witnessing what it does for other people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.woodgrainterrain.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodgrainterrain/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-rennie1/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDXyV8CIwYKOFlRkh7PYs-Q
• Other: https://artisans.coop/pages/seller-profile/woodgrainterrain

Image Credits
Scott Rennie