Welcome to RMRWoodArt. I am Rick Rammon and this site is dedicated to my artistic expression in wood. In addition to presenting my products for sale, I offer some insights into the techniques and methods I use in the construction and design of my projects.
Wood has been a part of my life for a very long time. In my professional career as a Material Science Engineer I worked in the Wood Products industry in research and development of Structural Wood Composites. My focus was on the strength and durability of wood and structural composites produced from wood. Even during those years, however, I was a wood worker. I did many utilitarian wood working projects at home. I made beds for my kids, desks, tables and completed a wide variety of home repairs and constructions.
Once I retired, I was able to refocus and explore my creative and artistic talents. Wood was the obvious element for this new focus. In my work career I was interested primarily in the technical aspects of wood. The mechanical strength and the differential shrinkage and swelling related to moisture content. Now my interest has turned to the aesthetic aspects, the color, figure and patterns. I started with boxes. Boxes seemed the ideal platform to develop my woodworking techniques and expand my artistic abilities. Boxes are so versatile and offer an unlimited venue for artistic expression. They provide an excellent platform for learning and improving a variety of different joinery techniques and are the perfect canvas for artistic expression. Boxes can vary in size, shape, and complexity. They can range from the simplest basic form to the bold and organic with embellishments in the form of inlays, shape, and the color and pattern of the different wood species used. In addition to the potential for being a beautiful object of art, they are also useful. Everybody can use a box of some kind.
In this journey into boxes I have learned a variety of techniques and methodologies which have led me to other types of wood art. The organic free flowing form of band saw boxes led to wood sculpture and carving. The methods used to enhance the interest in a box led to inlay techniques such as marquetry and wood burning. So my artistic expression has expanded beyond boxes to include marquetry, intarsia, and wood burning as I progress further in my journey into “Wood Art”.