CODY HIGH STYLE {2008}: WildeWood Furniture
Another stop in Cody, Wyoming from Guest Blogger, Diana Friend…
The Cody High Style Studio tour gave front porch views of the private studios of Cody’s best western artisans on a beautiful September day in Wyoming. Tour directors from the Cody Travel and Tourism department and transportation on a classic trolley set the stage to experience the settings and inspiration of these areas artists.
First stop was 15-miles outside of Cody, and down and up the narrow Hitching Post Drive to Ron and Jean Shanor’s Wildewood Furniture Studio. Built on what’s left of Buffalo Bill’s original homestead, the shop is an artistic endeavor, made out of straw bales covered with concrete that they built themselves. With an R70 insulating factor, they also built their home and their parents’ home using straw bales construction technique.
Listening to Ron as he explains his home and his work proves he is part engineer, scientist, architect as well as artist. We were welcomed into the studio filled with wood, lumber, tools and furniture in various stages of completion. He talks about how he selects and gathers the right pieces of wood for projects during the summer and works inside during the Wyoming winters. He also shares that his work is his passion, and is always learning new techniques, like creating wood inlays. He passes around a scroll-saw blade that is so fine, I could barely see it without my glasses! He then proceeded to use the blade to cut-out a steer head from quarter-inch panels of maple, black walnut and zebra wood stacked together—cutting carefully, then taking them apart to create an inlay piece from popping the horns from one piece, the head from another, into the framing block.
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Jean encourages us to look around, pointing to one of their “bread and butter” pieces, a trunk made from a hallowed-out tree trunk that currently is in the “ready-to-be-finished” process. But the crème de la crème piece is a applied-pole desk and chair made from driftwood that was entered earlier this month, at the Western Design Conference in Jackson, Wyoming. Along with the driftwood, the desk top is curt from curly maple and the frame is from black walnut. A built in stain glass reading lamp was crafted by Jean.
Ron and Jean’s handcrafted furniture is inspired by nature and the local animals, so much of their work incorporates bear, moose, elk, and mountain landscapes. We ventured into their home which showcases and incorporates the artists work. Driftwood stair rails and transoms, as well as trim around kitchen cabinets delight makes your eyes bug and jaws drop as you discover the details built into this art haven. In the office, a gun case can be seen through the door and Ron shares this is the first piece of furniture he ever made. Jean quickly points to the entertainment center in the living room, as one of their most recent projects. It is truly entertaining to be with the Shanors’ Wildewood Studio!
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