2008-08-02

Building blocks of life: Atria resident creates own furniture

By ROBERT VILLANUEVA

ELIZABETHTOWN (Ky.) — When asked where he got the designs for the numerous pieces of furniture he’s created, Russell Avery, 86, pointed to his head.

“I never copy anything,” the Atria Senior Living resident said.

Avery created most of the furniture in his apartment as well as many of the knickknacks. From the sprawling bed to the ornate secretary, from the pendulum mantel clock to the circular picture frames, Avery is surrounded by his work.

“The clock was the hardest to do,” he said. Made of cherry wood, the clock has scroll detailing and a bull’s-eye design, and it is “far and away” Avery’s favorite piece.

Avery, who taught himself woodworking in 1955, said he picked up the skill out of necessity. Back then he was living out on a farm and had built a new house.

“We needed new furniture, and I just started to work in my spare time,” Avery said. He has been a resident at Atria Senior Living since August of last year.

Though his wife now lives in another facility, Avery said Frances was supportive from the very beginning.

“She really bought most of my tools,” he said.

The benefit of living on a farm was that Avery could chop down trees on his property and use the wood for his projects. His work is apparent to anyone who visits his apartment.

Most of the pieces Avery displays are made from cherry wood, which he prefers to walnut because “walnut looks dirty.”

A wood plaque with profiles of his grandchildren hangs on a wall near his bedroom door. It was inspired by silhouettes done for visitors to carnivals.

Walking canes, with both rounded and hooked handles, are among his other work. Avery also built a dulcimer with its own stand, jewelry box and drop-leaf table.

“I put my name on everything,” he said.

A secretary, complete with glass-front doors, bookshelves and cubby holes for letters, was his first project. Defying convention, Avery designed it with cabinets underneath the drop-down writing surface rather than the typical drawers.

He wished he had gone with drawers.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” he said.

A large square-post bed garners lots of comments from visitors. Its imposing headboard — which is between 5 and 6 feet high — looms over the bed.

 “I gave no thought to style,” Avery said of the square-post piece.

But the round-top table he made required more skill, he said.

Though he hasn’t made furniture in three or four years, people who have seen his work invariably ask him if he would make them something. Avery has to decline, explaining he shared his work primarily with family.

In fact, some of Avery’s grandson’s have taken up the craft. A wood bowl and Christmas ornament are among samples of his family’s work that have found a home in Avery’s apartment.

“I’m proud that I’ve influenced my family,” Avery said.

The soft-spoken man dismissed the notion that his self-taught skill was anything special.

“I think anybody could do it if they apply themselves,” Avery said.

Robert Villanueva can be reached at (270) 505-1743.

Source: The News Enterprise (May 2008); photos provided by Atria Senior Living