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You may be wondering where we get all the incredible wood that Nick uses for his sculpture and carvings. When it comes to his materials, he has always been proud to say that his focus is on native hardwoods. But, what hardwoods are native to Arizona?
 Mesquite from the fabaceae family is by far the most prominent. On the East Coast and in the Midwestern U.S. Mesquite is known as an excellent barbeque fuel. This is because of its extreme hardness and density. Both Mesquite and Catclaw, both a type of acacia tree, are covered with thorns and spines. Both produce beans in pods which were a large portion of Southwest Native American's diet, and are eaten by cattle and other wildlife to this day (it is estimated that a coyote's diet in late summer consists 75% of Mesquite beans.) When carved and used for sculpting, this wood shows its colorful interior. Ranging from almost a purplish-black to a buttery yellow, the rock-hard wood has a long-lasting glow.
Catclaw, also of the fabaceae family, is another wood Nick uses. Though it appears similar in the wild to Mesquite, with its thorny branches and twisted trunk, this tree has a very different nature under its skin. Where Mesquite somehow naturally resists most boring worms and heart-wood rot, Catclaw is susceptible to them both. For this reason, it is a rare thing for Nick to find a piece of this wood large enough and with enough solid mass, to be made into a bowl, statue or carving. When he is finished, however, the deep red and yellow wood shines like glass.
The other hardwood Nick uses is Black Walnut. Most people think of these solid trees as being found in forests and fields of the Midwest, but they are plentiful in Arizona as well. That being said, he is currently at work on a fantastic piece of Black Walnut heart-wood from Central Missouri. This tree was blown down in a storm 30 years ago on Richard Bennett's ancestral farm and sat in a barn, waiting for someone to put it to use. Nick is bringing it back to life as a beautiful sculpture.
Ironwood or Olneya Testosa is a wood of some controversy. If you've ever been south of the border, you've found that Ironwood carvings are quite plentiful. Since the 1990's the government in the Mexican state of Sonora has strictly limited the harvesting of Ironwood trees. Back in 2000, President Clinton proposed a national monument area be set aside in Southern Arizona to commemorate this amazing tree. Many conservationists would like to put a stop to the harvesting of any ironwood trees. Like most other desert trees, Ironwood trees grow very slowly. Very slowly. It is estimated that because it grows taller than and provides more shade than the other legume bearing trees in the Sonoran Desert, that it provides homes and shade for more than 60% of desert wildlife.
Some Ironwood trees have been dated at 1200 to 1500 years old, a "young" one being closer to 300 years-old. With the restrictions placed on harvesting it, the cost of getting Ironwood for woodworking has gone up 15 fold in the last 10 years. It is not surprising then that it commands a premium price in a raw state and is sold by the pound. Nick does very few pieces of Ironwood for all these reasons, but when he does they are indeed spectacular pieces.
Other woods used in Nick's projects include Manzanita with its beautiful black and maroon bark, from Southern Arizona. From the White Mountains of East-Central Arizona comes Utah Cedar with its lovely birds-eye effect throughout and Knotty Pine, which twists and turns in phenomenal shapes.
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P.O. Box 1172