Students learn wood crafting

Brent McGregor has been turning gnarled and twisted juniper deadwood into magnificent sculpture and furniture for decades.

Last week he imparted the wisdom and experience gained over those years to four students in a woodcrafting workshop sponsored through Art at the Barn.

The four students gathered at McGregor’s home and studio in the Panoramic subdivision for four days of intensive study — and fun.

“I wanted to learn to make sculpture out of wood and I love juniper and I was always picking up stuff on hikes,” said Irene Oliveria, an artist who lives between Sisters and Bend.

Each student was to make a stool and Oliveria was pleased that McGregor let her run off with her imagination. She ended up creating a stool that incorporated animal bones and deer antlers — looking for all the world like the throne of some Norse king.

McGregor neatly balanced instruction and inspiration, giving the students the guidance they needed without imposing his own vision.

“Even if everybody is building footstools, they’re so different because it’s the interpretation of the builder,” McGregor said.

Chris Carlson of Sisters built a shaving bench — a tool he will use in further woodworking projects. Lee Stevenson of Sunriver and Jerry Hopp of Sisters built stools and were working on other small projects by the last day of the workshop.

Hopp said he recently retired and after seeing a piece on Brent McGregor on OPB, he decided he’d like to learn to work with natural wood. He jumped at the opportunity for the workshop.

Stevenson noted that part of the charm of working with juniper is that the wood is eccentric; it twists and turns and the craftsman must work with the wood, not simply impose his will upon it.

“Ordinarily when you work with wood it’s all straight lines and 90-degree and 45-degree angles,” he said. “This is a whole new challenge.”

The craftsman said that he learned that “you have to let the wood talk to you.”

McGregor — whose home and workspace are surrounded by a veritable jungle of juniper he has collected in far-ranging expeditions — imparted to his students a real reverence for the wood they use.

All of the students praised McGregor’s teaching as well as his artistry.

“I was a teacher for 30-plus years and I’ve been around a lot of exceptional teachers,” Stevenson said. “He’s a master teacher.”

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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