Rocking Chairs Add to calendar Owen Rein ♦ Owen Rein Chairmaker Mountain View, AR | Rocking Chairs | Website When Owen Rein sees a tree, he sees a rocking chair. Living in a rustic cabin in the Arkansas forest, Owen forages wood from his 40 acres of land and crafts it into beautiful, long-lasting rocking chairs. After first using power tools and pre-cut lumber, he discovered that working with natural wood from his own trees, and using hand tools that allow him to accentuate the natural grain of the wood, created a stronger and cleaner chair. GET TO KNOW OWEN What drew you to your chosen craft? I was first attracted by this type of woodworking by its economics. Requiring only a few simple hand tools and giving me direct access to the source of my materials, this traditional method allowed me to set up and operate my business without hardly any overhead. What do you enjoy most about your craft? Working in close cooperation with nature is what I enjoy most about making my living this way. Why is it important for people to make things with their own hands? Making things by hand makes one feel connected to the world. “I believe there is a communion between the object maker, the material and the person the object is being made for that transcends to God the Creator, who uses our hands as His tools, to make these beautiful objects.” –Sam Maloof In what ways are handmade goods better than those that are mass-produced? Handwork can afford the artisan greater sensitivity to the varying nature and structures of the raw material. With skill, this can make stronger more aesthetically pleasing products. Rocking Chairs, Banjos, Fishing Hoop Nets EPISODE | SCHEDULE ♦ BANJOS | FISHING HOOP NETS DISCOVER OTHER ARTISANS [rev_slider alias=”crafts”] #HandcraftedAmerica