Steve Baldwin

Steve is a native Texan with lifelong aspirations to be creative, and a long time interest in various forms of woodworking. He pursues a technical career to pay the bills but manages to add creative touches to technical documents and presentations by use of graphical illustrations.

In early adulthood Steve’s hobby of drawing combined with woodworking through use of his dad’s scroll saw for creation of Christmas ornaments and small signs. Concurrently, an interest in carving developed and was stimulated by workshops on realistic duck decoys with an accomplished carver in the Arkansas Ozarks. It seemed only natural to combine gouge and knife carving with scroll saw work.

A unique style evolved and matured over the years and has been rewarded by many commissions for personalized pieces and an assortment of general works on subjects such as Texana, flora and fauna, aquatic life, crosses, wildlife and many others.

One of Steve’s annual ‘for the fun of it’ activities is entering one or more pieces in the Texas State Fair where he has a winning tradition since 2000 including a Blue Ribbon and Best of Show in 2004 in the Designer-Craftsman department which includes all forms of woodwork plus leather work, stained glass, jewelry, metal/bronze sculpture and many other art forms.

A chance acquaintance in the mid 1990’s with world-class wood sculptor Charlie Boren led to private lessons in the challenging art of ‘real’ wood sculpture using large chunks of native Texas hardwoods. When Steve was later invited to join the artists guild at Russell Farm Art Center he gladly accepted the opportunity to diversify his craft while working with wood sculptors with many different talents, styles and favorite subjects. Steve’s intricate ‘wall sculptures’ are unlike the other wood creations in the gallery, but there are similarities in design concepts, layout, detail and finish processes. There are always opportunities to improve or do something different on the next piece – more depth, more character, different choice of wood, etc.

 For this reason the casual Saturday morning sessions at Charlie’s Russell Farm workshops are rewarding as they provide a pleasant environment where Steve and the other artists get inspired, challenged and supported as they attempt to convert their creative ideas into works of art in wood.