Piece by piece

Life has a funny way of directing you to a place you never thought you’d go.

That’s the story of Allen Hendrickson of Osceola and his intarsia wood art.

In 2011, Hendrickson had his third heart attack. After having many complications, doctors told him he couldn’t go back to his 20-year career of concrete construction. He had to file for disability.

Hendrickson came across a photo of the wood art and decided to try it.

“The more I did it, the more I got hooked on it,” he said.

Like a puzzle

Intarsia is like fitting the pieces of a puzzle together to create a piece of wood art. Hendrickson draws out the designs on separate pieces of wood and rough-cuts them out.

Hendrickson uses all types of hard woods, and there’s no stains involved. He gets wood from Des Moines or through the internet from places such as Africa and South America.

Hendrickson has been crafting the intarsia wood art for approximately two years. An average piece can take him a week to put together. It all depends on how much time he can devote to it each day.

It takes a lot of patience, as well as trial and error to draw the patterns out. Cutting with efficiency is also important.

“If you do make a mistake, you throw the piece away and start all over again,” he said.

Designs

Hendrickson creates landscape, nature and animal art. He can also custom design a piece. He has a book with pictures of his finished products, and there were many Iowa State University and University of Iowa designs in there, too.

He sells his pieces on the internet and his work can be seen on his Facebook page “Creative Wood Art and Crafts.”

He’s shipped to buyers in Barbados, Canada and up the east and west coasts of the U.S.

A review on his Facebook page stated, “Absolutely gorgeous! What a great gift you have been given to share with the world.”

Therapeutic

The creation of the intarsia wood art is a therapeutic experience for Hendrickson.

“Seeing the finished product from start to finish, basically, it’s relaxing,” he said. “I’m pretty much a person who enjoys working on something, an individual piece, and seeing it through all the way.”

If a person wants to see Hendrickson’s works of art, Clarke Area Arts Council (CAAC) is showcasing his pieces at Lakeside Hotel and Casino as the current featured artist. The CAAC artist area is near the events center entrance.

“This is rewarding. My work is finally getting noticed, it really is,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing, for people to see it. I love showing this stuff off. I really do.”