Johnathan Carpender's Order Page
My name is Jonathan Carpenter, I made my debut on March 31, 1977. My mom tells me I was in a real big hurry to get here, I was born in Marietta, Georgia. Boy was I in for a few surprises it turned out I was not the first to be born into this family, I had an older brother. Nothing could have prepared me to face the evil he would inflict upon me all in the name of fun. His name was Curtis. Say it quietly he may hear you and come to torment your small helpless children. Actually I just had a huge imagination and he enjoyed adding gas to the fire. I lived out side of Atlanta till I was around five and then my family packed it up and headed for the woods. We came to Ellabell, GA. There is were most of my memories come from. We lived on a small farm were we were caretakers of the place. We had lived on what I think was around 275 acres. A lot of the area was cypress swamp and impassable woods. There we resided in an old farmhouse that I think is my most favorite place in the whole world. We never had much money at all but My Dad always made sure we had plenty to eat and we were always warm and most of all we were happy and loved. I could never ask for more. My brother here found new and improved ways to torment me. The dark woods that surrounded our house seemed to fuel his wicked imagination. He spoke of huge razor back pigs that lived on the flesh of small boys.and plants that sucked the blood from small children. Of course we had our share of werewolves living in the back yard and I was thoroughly convinced the only thing that kept me safe was the screen that covered my window in the room I shared with my brother. We spent a lot of time in those woods hunting snakes for their skins and hunting squirrels for dinner and sometimes a rabbit when they were in season. My brother would find a small tree in the brush and make me a bow from fishing line and arrows from dog fennel's. I went to school in the Bryan county school system. My first year was my brothers last. I started out in Lanier Elementary then to Bryan county middle school and finally to Bryan County High. I made a few friends a long the way spending most of those 12 years with all the same people. Most of them I have know idea were they are now but if you are reading this you know who you are. Well there is a lot more that I could write but some of it is just simply personal stuff that I don?t want to tell and this site is mainly about my art. Were I grew up really fueled my imagination which helps with my art. I didn?t have cable and video games when I was growing up my Mom was convinced they would rot my brain, all in all I am glad she felt that way. I did have all the blank paper I wanted for drawing and a library card. That was entertainment to me. Oh and the dukes of hazard every Friday night at eight.
Well as the story goes time passed and things changed my brother married his wife Deb and later moved to Jacksonville Florida where he still lives. I met this wonderful young lady named Sharicca. The wheels turned and soon we were married on April 18 1998. She is a very talented young woman the only woman I know who can spend more time in Home Depot and Lowes than most men. She is a carpenter by trade and now by name also. She is a great cabinet maker. Well we are enjoying being a family her, me and out guinea pigs and a cat named Oscar. We started out life together were I grew up in Ellabell but decided we needed to grow up more and be less dependant on our folks so we made a major move to Fayetteville,North Carolina. Fayetteville is a busseling little army town. To me it might as well be New York City. I am just a simple southern country boy and I still ain?t used to having neighbors. I think the only wildlife I have seen here is some of the locals on a Friday night and a few kitty cats roaming the neighborhood. I do like it here but it ain't home. Here I have found more of a demand for the kind of art I do. The art community here is bigger and I have more avenues for showing others my work.
I practice an art that is actually ancient. It has been done by all kinds of people through out history as have most forms of art. I do pyrography or more commonly known as woodburning. Most early pyrographers used hot pokers and leather but I use a small heated pen and various kinds of wood. I draw pictures of all kinds and I also do very good portraits as you can see for yourself in my studio. I have been doing this since I was around fifteen years old I am now 24 and still I have not completely mastered this beautiful art form but I do believe I am well on my way. Art is very important to me and it seemed like I always had this desire to draw. I stated out by tracing pictures and then grew and grew. Its hard to explain how or why but it seems like I have always been good at it. I guess that as an artist I just have a different way of seeing things and with that way of seeing I can put what I see on wood. Though I do have to practice some things all the time. I always like to challenge myself trying harder more complicated or detailed projects. I also enjoy learning new techniques for artistic expression especially in the avenue of paper and pencil or pen or brush or whatever is called for. I try to find something I like in almost all art. I hope to continue on learning more and more about artistic methods. I especially hope to continue to learn about wood as a media in my art expression.
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