Ron Gill spends most of his time turning nature’s art into functional art for the home. He specializes in native and exotic hardwoods in their natural form. His designs keep the integrity of each piece while adding other media such as glass or steel to compliment it.
“I love bringing home an old piece of wood, finding its inner beauty and enhancing it in any way I can. Every piece of wood is unique. It has its own characteristics and its own story. My job is to preserve it in a way that both the beauty and the story will continue long after I’m gone.”
Ron was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, into a family of builders. He began using woodworking tools at an early age as he helped with the family business. He graduated with an education degree from Edinboro University and earned a master’s degree from Wilkes College, both in Pennsylvania. He was a teacher for more than thirty years and owned a photography business for twelve years. During this time woodworking continued to be his creative outlet. Now retired and living in Arizona, that hobby has become a full-time endeavor. “To me, retired just means doing what I want to do, and this is it,” he says. Nowadays he’s either working in his shop or travelling to mills around the country in search of the perfect piece of wood.
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