I live on an island with majestic trees. Everyday I am blessed with their beauty

Hi everyone. I live on Mercer Island in Washington State. I was born nearby in Seattle. I grew up with so many beautiful trees. As a boy I would spent hours sitting in their limbs and thinking. I don't know when my love of wood started but I think it was in one of those trees. I love their majesty and strength. I love their smell and I love the shear beauty of their wood. It saddens me to see so many trees being taken down for new construction and tossed in land fills. I try to honor them with my work and pass forward their beauty.

I belong to the Seattle Woodturners Association. We are often called when trees are coming down or have come down due to disease or storms. We collect the trees and our members turn them into beautiful art. I enjoy making a bowl for the family who has lost their tree. Trees carry so many memories and this way they can pass those memories down to their families.

Its amazing to me how wood creates its own art. I stand at my lathe with a piece of wood and I have only a basic idea of what I am going to make. As I start to turn a shape begins to emerge and suddenly I can see what the wood wants. I know that may seem crazy but wood is sensuous and responds to a touch. I think that is because it is alive, given to the earth by God. I treat each piece with respect and strive to create a piece of art that will last for generations. That's why I turn wood and it gives me great satisfaction. I hope you will feel the same way when you own one of my works.

- Don Samuelson

All of my art comes from salvaged timber. Trees are an essential part of our world. I save trees from the land fills and create lasting beauty.

All of my art is hand made by myself in Mercer Island, Washington.