Welcome to Sawdust Connection, the award-winning collection of gourd, woodburning
and pyrographic art by Nedra Denison
and
fretwork and wood carvings by Alan Denison. Our work is unique, hand-made
and
one of a kind.
Sawdust Connection was
first founded in 1999 as a means of selling Alan's woodworking
at craft shows. In 2000 I combined my artistic talent and together
we began doing arts and craft shows. When I began teaching pyrography the
business grew to include woodburning tools and supplies.
The business has and always
will be a small, family owned business. We don't have thousands of
square feet of retail store front or warehouse, just a few rooms in our home that are
dedicated to our art and the tools and supplies we sell.
About us
Alan and I are native
New Englanders but we have lived all over the country because of our jobs. We
both worked for the Dept of Veterans of Affairs and
we owe the VA for providing us with the opportunity to both travel the
country and to meet each other.
Alan was an Engineer with
the VA and spent his career supervising the construction of hospitals,
research centers and doing major renovations. His job was very
stressful and required moving every few years after a project was
completed. After 30 years of service Alan retired and decided to
relax and enjoy working in his shop.
My career with the VA
started as a clinical Social Worker working with Oncology and geriatric
patients. After many years I changed careers as a Human Resource
Manager and spent many years moving around the country as I moved up the
"corporate"
ladder to become Director of a small VA in Vermont where I met Al.
From there Alan and I moved to Seattle where the stress, politics and BS
became too overwhelming for me and I just burned out and was forced to go
on disability. Al's job required him to move again so we
headed south to Texas for over 9 years and after completing two hospital
projects Alan finally took early retirement. In 2003 I was up to
returning to work and was offered the opportunity to return to the VA so I
could
qualify for my full retirement. We moved back to WA where I
worked at the VA in Tacoma. After 3 years of fighting with the
government to fix the mistakes they had made (that doesn't happen in the
government does it????) regarding my retirement I
finally got my retirement in 2003 with 33 years of service. Three
days later we were packed and heading to New Mexico, the land of
Enchantment.
Alan's woodworking
Alan is a woodcarver from way back, or should I say finger carver, because
that's what he first started doing at the age of 11. After refining
his techniques, he finally figured out that carving wood was much more
effective and less expensive than buying stock in band-aids. Alan
enjoyed whittling away on caricatures and eventually started carving canes
and other oddities. Alan was also creating a lot of sawdust with his
new RBI scroll saw, so we decided we needed to do something with all
those works of art he was creating and Al's business, Sawdust Connection
was created so we could sell his work at arts and
crafts shows.
Alan was a member of a local
wood carving club and attending the Texas Woodcarvers Guild rallies held
twice a year taking wood carving classes to improve his skills and I was
getting just a little jealous of all the fun he was having.
About Nedra and the business
I've been an artist since childhood but never expected or wanted to do it
professionally, nor did I ever expect to follow in my dad's footsteps.
My father had his own successful retail business for over 50 years and
while I never planned on having my own business it was only natural that
eventually I start one of my own some day. I spent a lot of time with my
dad in his store and learned a lot. He was one of the first
"discount retail stores" and he survived and prospered even as the Big Box
Discounters came to town. What I learned from him is that while people
like getting good prices as the words customer service seemed to be
disappearing from our society's vocabulary. People were coming to my dad
because he understood what customer service was and that is exactly what
he stressed in his business.
I established my own business in 1993 in WA state
as a means of trying to recover from burnout from my job. I knew
there was no way I would ever be able to work for someone else again and
if I was going to work at all it had to be some thing I could do on my
own. Having a background in art I wanted to do something that allowed me
to be creative and after careful consideration and research I decided to
make gift baskets. Not just any gift basket but each one was an
artistic creation. Like my dad I gave my customers great service. I
was a very active member of the Chamber of Commerce and developed a very
successful commercial gift basket business for
several years until it grew to the point that I could not manage it by
myself. I finally sold the business and we relocated to Texas due to
Alan's job.
After relocating to Texas, we established our new business Sawdust
Connection, as a means of selling Al's hand-made carvings and woodworking
that he had been creating.
When Alan attended the 1999
Texas Woodcarvers Guild Spring rally, I went along and took a chip carving
class. I thought it was great fun, but for three days I had the
smell of burning wood behind me and couldn't resist the temptation to try
pyrography myself. I borrowed a woodburner and sat in on a
woodburning session, instantly fell in love and I've been burning the
house down ever since then. Little did I know that this wonderful
hobby would be exactly what I needed to become productive again. I began teaching in 2000 and the rest is history.
When I started woodburning I eventually started selling some of my work at
the craft shows and as my confidence grew I began teaching pyrography and
the business grew to include woodburning tools in order to have them
available for my students who didn't have woodburners for the class.
Little by little the business grew and like my father I provide my
customers with service they can't find at large retail stores where their
sales people don't have the expertise or time to provide great customer
service.
Since the focus of our business changed to include the retail sales of supplies
and tools in 2000, Sawdust Connection has been supplying woodburners, woodworkers, carvers,
gourd artists and other crafters with superior quality products and
customer service since then. It is because of the quality products
we sell and the great service that we will be here for many years to come.
I began working on this website
early in 2002 and with the help of a friend in Canada the website was
launched in September, 2002 with only a few pages.
Little by little it grew just as I have grown.
Why shop Sawdust Connection
I sell only
the best quality supplies and tools on the market from leaders in the
industry and I try to provide the same first class service that made my
dad the success he was in his business for over 50 years. When you
call, guess who you talk to...me! When you need help, I'm the one
who will give it to you, not an operator or sales person who has never
woodburned or worked on a gourd. You will get advise from someone
who actually understands your needs and isn't just trying to sell a
product. You will find I'm not a great sales person, just an honest
person trying to help you find the tools and products you need. And on top of all that I've got very competitive prices on
everything I sell. What more can you ask for, good prices, good
service and great products!
So, who ya gonna call...Sawdust
Connection!
Be sure to check out my
GourdSupplies.com shop for a great
selection of products that I personally use and love.
Recognizing that high quality materials are easiest to use, are longer
lasting, and make a finer finished product, I offer only the finest gourd
& pyrographic tools, supplies and accessories.
Alan and I, personally research every item I sell. Some of
the criteria for the selection of tools includes: superior customer
support from the company, prompt and efficient service and delivery of
products, lasting quality of the product and it's ease and comfort in use. I
have a personal relationship with each and every supplier and tool
manufacturer that I represent. I ensure that they understand
the importance that I give to supporting my customers and how will
he/she extend themselves to make sure that every customer is happy with
his or her purchase. You can be assured that everything you find in our
inventory has been tested and used by one or both of us and I and the
manufacturer will stand behind the products I sell.
Nedra's Pyrography and Gourd Classes
I feel passionate about my art and I love to share that passion
with anyone willing to learn. I feel that teaching is important
in keeping the interest in
pyrography and gourd art growing.
For more information about my Philosophy about
teaching, my methods and schedule of classes, please check out the
page for
Gourd and Pyrography
classes. I have a separate page just
for an events calendar
and will be listing classes with space available as they come up.
Welcome To Our Website and
store
I thank you for visiting my
website and hope you enjoy browsing through my store front, our galleries of
gourd and pyrographic art, wood carvings, woodworking and, drawings.
I carry
Nibsburner and Razertip woodburning systems, pens and accessories. I also carry a wide
variety of pyrography, woodworking, gourd and craft supplies, such as basswood
products,
gourd and pyrography books, CA Adhesives, and a wide variety of tools and
supplies for gourd artists, woodturners, woodcrafters and other crafters.
You will find the website easy to navigate and find everything you are
looking for
To start shopping please go
to our
STORE FRONT
and be sure to check back frequently for new items.
Thank you for taking the
time to visit our website.
Nedra Denison
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