Ken Ragsdale
Ken’s world was forever changed when he was introduced to woodturning in 2014. As a young boy growing up on the family ranch, he was always fascinated by the many different species of trees and the wood they produced. But little did he know that many years later, that wood as well as the creativity surrounding it, would become such an integral part of his life.
When developing his new found skill of turning, and ultimately incorporating all the many different techniques into the design and shaping a piece, he began to realize that the wood itself with it’s knots and beautiful wood grain would dictate it’s own final outcome. He very much welcomed the challenge of saving discarded trees, having them unfold into beautiful creations preserved for people of all ages to enjoy for generations. His defining theme is “The Forest Re-designed”.
His artistry of creating with wood is an inward journey filled with passion, always searching for new ways to express those feelings. They may manifest themselves either in a larger or smaller vase with embellishments, some other new design, or reaching back into his Native American heritage for inspiration . His latest love, however, is that of creating what is referred to as “basket illusion”. This technique has the look of a woven basket, but is made entirely of wood. Each individual “bead” is hand painted incorporating a custom created design for each “basket Illusion” piece. Each one being an original design. Many individuals seeing his pieces for the first time believe they are actual baskets. Ken also seeks to replicate the many Native pottery shapes into wood artistry.
In designing his distinct artistic creations, he loves to embellish them to enhance the wood grain or the color of the wood with the personality he sees in each one, and at times, likes incorporating texturing and dyes, as well as adding turquoise, stone inlays and cabochon’s to enhance their beauty.
Ken’s background has been filled with many different life experiences. Being raised on a cattle ranch, he later had his own small ranch, raising Texas Longhorn cattle. The symbol incorporated on the bottom of all his art pieces is the R. This emblem represents his cattle brand, and is also the name of his company, R Bar Wood Art. He had a 25 year career working in computers for various corporations, culminating in owning and operating two retail sporting goods stores before retiring.
Ken’s journey into the “art world” has been one of the most satisfying adventures of his life. He greets each day with a renewed sense for artistic creation, He and his wife currently reside in beautiful Utah, which only adds inspiration to his creativity.
