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TRYON–When carpenter and craftsman Ray Buckmaster and his family were considering moving to Tryon, one of the first things that caught his attention was the Tryon Arts and Crafts School. Now that he lives here, he’s excited to teach an upcoming class on creating wooden landscape art at TACS. 

 

Buckmaster spent nine years educating fourth graders before he discovered his true passion for woodworking. He began with a variety of small items like boxes, and as his confidence grew, Buckmaster decided to focus on woodworking professionally. 

 

He opened a business making cabinets and furniture, all of his design, before wooden toys he created for his children, nieces and nephews sent him in a new direction. Leaving cabinets behind temporarily, he began to focus mainly on making wooden toys. 

 

He’s recently begun creating wooden landscape wall art focusing on the mountains surrounding Tryon. 

 

“Everywhere you visit or travel, you see something new, and the landscape changes around every corner,” Buckmaster says of Tryon. “My wall art features several local landmarks, such as the Blue Ridge Parkway, Melrose Mountain and Warrior Mountain, which I see daily.”  

 

Buckmaster has a master’s degree in education from the College of Charleston, making him the perfect fit for the Tryon Arts and Crafts School, which offers a vast array of classes in its magnificent well-equipped studios. 

 

“This class is something I wanted to do, blending my teaching background with my woodworking,” Buckmaster adds.

 

The Wooden Landscape class is available for students of all skill levels. They will learn how to cut shapes using a bandsaw and proper bandsaw safety, along with detail sanding, layout, and design in creating their original piece of art. 

 

The six-week class begins February 21, and will take place every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon in TACS’ Wood Studio. For more information or to sign up for the course, visit tryonartsandcrafts.org. To see more of Buckmaster’s original pieces, visit his website at youngerbrotherwoodworking.com.