by Marie Doyon Where are you from and what do you make? I was born in Toledo, Ohio. However, our family summered in lower Michigan and wintered in Bradenton, Florida, instilling a love of travel and a strong desire for being “rooted.” I attended Florida Technological University in Orlando, earned a degree in electrical engineering, and went to work for NASA at the Kennedy Space Center. While in college, I was fortunate to meet (on a blind date) Linda Stevens, whom I married in 1981. We settled in Florida and, in 1983, took on the challenge of building a house together. We only contracted out the concrete foundation, plumbing, and electricity. Over the next 38 years, we completed a major addition along with several rounds of remodeling/renovations. Then, in 2021 and after five years of searching for the perfect retirement home, we found and fell in love with Dataw Island. What do I make? Large piles of sawdust, primarily! On the practical side, I build many furnishings and accessories for our home: tables, cabinets, benches, and stools. I grew up in a family environment with an expectation and encouragement to “do it yourself.” On the artistic side, where I would group most of my turned pieces, I look for interesting pieces of wood with unusual grain patterns or defects. I particularly like decayed or gnarly wood. Turning these pieces can be challenging but is often the most rewarding. What inspires you to create? I usually start with an idea of what I want the piece to look like, but all too often, the wood tells me what it wants to be. In fact, most of my work starts out as potential firewood, so I don’t worry too much if something does not go as planned. I’ve made a lot of… Read More