#7 Ron Ufkes

Out of the Woods

Woodburning/Carving

29 Eastgate Drive

Lakeview, AR 72642

(870) 507-0007

janron234@gmail.com

www.WoodArtbyRon.com

Directions: From the intersection of AR62B and AR5N in Mountain Home, turn onto AR5N and travel 6.2 miles to Midway. Turn left onto AR178W. Travel 4 miles and turn right onto Eastgate Dr., just past the Welcome to Lakeview sign. Look for Art Odyssey sign. Turn left immediately into the driveway. The studio is the separate biulding in front of the house.

"It seems to me that I have worked with wood almost forever," says wood turner and carver Ron Ufkes. As a young boy, he can remember cutting firewood using a crosscut saw with is father. Later, while building furniture for his own family, he used a lathe to make some table legs.

While his passion and inspiration for his craft come primarily from the wood itself, he also "needs" lots of toys to help make it more fun.

After high school, he joined the Army, then married his wife Jan. Upon graduating from the University of Illinois, he became a National Park Ranger. Later, he worked for the San Bernadino County Sheriff's Office in California for 20 years, and then retired to work for anotehr 10 years in the defense industry. Ron and Jan raised four childre, and have teen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. They retired to Arkansas in 2997, and he can usually be found in his shop (which is a real mess) working on the lathe.

His work my be purchased online on his website, www.woodartbyron.com. He also has items at the Peter Engler Designs Gallery in Branson, Missouri, and the Butler Center Galleries of the Central Arkansas Library System, which is in the River Market District of downtown Little Rock.