Artist Statement:
I was born in Glen Ridge N.J. and grew up in the small town of Basking Ridge, N.J. I graduated from Ridge High School in 1966, attended Davis and Elkins College in Elkins W.V. for 2 ½ years. I entered the Air Force in April of 1969, after basic training at Lackland AFB, Texas, I served at Travis AFB, California and Yokota AFB, Japan, during the Vietnam conflict. I was stationed at Dobbins AFB in 1971 and met Elaine in 1972 while there. We married in July of 1973 and remained in Georgia.
I have always enjoyed working with wood, building several items for our first house. I inherited most of my father’s power tools. Among those tools was a Sears lathe and a few turning chisels. I experimented with the lathe and was able to turn some nice pieces from wood found in the firewood pile or limbs fallen from trees in the yard. I now have a much better Poolewood lathe and am able to turn larger and more intricate pieces.
Turning has become a joy for me. It is fascinating to watch as an ugly piece of log becomes a thing of beauty as spins on the lathe. Most of the wood (90%) I use comes from the Cobb county area. Many pieces are where I have seen a pile of limbs left by the road for the city or county to get. Friends and co-workers have brought me pieces of eastern red cedar, wild cherry, crab apple and other woods from the North Atlanta area, Tennessee, South Georgia and even Oregon. I still have a few pieces of black walnut from my father-in-laws farm in Tallapoosa, Ga.
You can reach him at herkit@bellsouth.net
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