For the past seven years, Steve Noggle's commute to work has been a short, shaded stroll from the back door of his family farmhouse on Morganton's Enola Road to a little workshop in his backyard.
Noggle is a wood turner, which means he creates artistic bowls, vases and other objects from pieces of raw wood.
Formerly an engineer in the furniture industry, Noggle, 54, said he had "dabbled with making furniture over the years," but decided to leave his desk job for the life of a folk artist when he made his first wooden bowl on a lathe in 2001.
"After I made my first piece I decided, `I think I can sell this stuff,' " said Noggle.
Noggle never took any classes or workshops on how to turn wood. He said he "just went out and bought a lathe one day" and taught himself through trial and error.
Set up in a small wooden building that originally housed his grandfather's country store, Noggle's workshop contains surprisingly few tools. He mainly uses a chainsaw, a lathe, a chisel-like tool called a bowl gouge and a power sander, he said.
The shop's centerpiece is the huge lathe and around it are nestled stacks of bowls in various stages of completion. It is impossible to look at the bowls without wanting to touch them. The finished ones glow warmly like skin and are almost as soft to the touch.
To make a typical bowl, Noggle first cuts a chunk of wood from one of the many logs brought to his yard by local woodcutters. He then puts the wood on his lathe and turns it, carving it with the bowl gouge until it has the right shape.
Then the bowl will sit for several months to "warp," or allow the moisture to evaporate from the green wood. When the wood is dry, Noggle returns it to the lathe, where he gives it a final shaping; then he sands it and finishes it with three coats of tung oil.
Besides regular bowls, Noggle also makes fascinating pieces from burls, or irregularities in trees' trunks and limbs. These pieces have ragged, natural edges and are, Noggle says, very popular with customers.
He almost always works with wood from locally cut trees, sometimes right from his own 15 acres of family farmland. His favorite to work with is ambrosia maple. The bowls made from this wood have a beautiful mottled black and white coloring. He also likes working with cherry, walnut and any kind of burl.
Noggle markets his work at galleries such as the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the New Morning Gallery in Asheville, and travels to about 16 craft shows each year in places such as Chicago, Florida and Georgia.
Testaments to his success as a craftsman are his membership in the Southern Highland Craft Guild and a feature article about his work in the October 2007 issue of "Our State" magazine.
For those of you who fantasize about leaving your day job to follow artistic dreams, Noggle said that although he works hard and makes less money now than he did as an engineer, he loves life as a full-time wood turner.
"I like that I'm able to devote all my energy and creativity to it," he said.
To learn more about Noggle's work, visit www.southernhighlandguild.org/stevenoggle.
National Day of Prayer activities
Thanks to the efforts of numerous local churches, Burke County will be one of thousands of communities in the United States to participate in the National Day of Prayer observance on May 1.According to organizer Nancy Whalley of First Baptist Church of Morganton, citizens can gather from noon to 1 p.m. on the lawn of the Old Courthouse Square in downtown Morganton to be a part of a nationwide effort to bring communities together to pray.
Created in 1952 by President Harry Truman, the National Day of Prayer happens the first Thursday of each May and focuses on prayer for the United States and its leadership in seven areas: government, military, media, business, education, church and family.
Whalley said Burke County leaders in each of these areas will speak during the event. The keynote speaker will be Reverend David Doster of Burke Community Bible Church, speaking on the importance of prayer.
Other highlights will include a 21-gun salute by a group of retired Marines, a performance by the Freedom High School color guard, and a bagpipe tribute to the military.
Whalley said that last year more than 250 people attended and she and other organizers expect even more participants this year.
"This is the one day a year when you can join with people all over the nation at one time to pray for our nation's government, cities and leaders," said Whalley. "It will be just a huge chorus of prayer going up at one time for our nation."
For details on the National Day of Prayer, visit the national Web site at www.ndptf.org.
Valdese Family Friday Night
If you are ready for summer, dust off your lawn chair and head out to the first night of the Valdese Family Friday Night series, which kicks off at 7 p.m. May 2 in the Wachovia parking lot on Main Street.
According to staff at the Town of Valdese office, the May 2 event is free and open to the public and will feature bluegrass music by the John Shuffler Band and the Bruce Moody Band. There will also be a vintage car and truck "cruise in" and downtown merchants will be selling hot dogs and drinks.
For a schedule of future Family Friday entertainment, go to www.visitvaldese.com.
School for the Deaf student art show
The Burke Arts Council is hosting the North Carolina School for the Deaf 13th annual student art show through May 1 at the arts council's Jailhouse Gallery on East Meeting Street in downtown Morganton. A reception will be held 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. April 30.
School for the Deaf art teacher Kimberly Lajzer said nearly the entire school is participating in the event, with students in grades kindergarten through 12 entering work in media including photography, painting, drawing and weaving.
For details about the show or the reception, contact the Burke Arts Council at 828-433-7282.
Gina Smith
