Ronni Hannaman: Skaggs brings dead trees to life in his art creations

Carson City resident Travis Skaggs has long enjoyed working with wood to create handcrafted one-of-a-kind art for his home or to give to friends and family as gifts. He has crafted furniture, wooden toys, specialty small boxes, and whatever “strikes his fancy,” which currently is the crafting and designing of charcuterie boards now so in vogue.

One would think that with a charcuterie board, just a simple piece of finished wood would do since these boards typically are laden with just about every kind of small appetizer items completely covering the board. However, Skaggs thinks a charcuterie board should be a piece of functional art that can be displayed and admired after the food has been consumed. His lovingly-crafted fine art pieces are reincarnated from once lovely and functional trees meant to live on in his creations.

The boards and boxes crafted by Skaggs are typically very complex designs of various types of wood pieced together as if they were puzzle pieces. When asked where he harvests his wood, he honestly said, “I buy boards at Lowe’s and for the more exotic wood, I go to my special wood store in Sparks.”

Now retired, Skaggs worked within the building trades for many years until he was injured and then started a new career as an accountant. He always loved to work with wood and soon found himself creating pieces here and there until he retired and now pursues his “hobby” in earnest. As one would expect of a former builder, he is adept at the skill of problem-solving that comes with creating something out of a simple chunk of wood.

Today, he says, “I have a three-car garage filled with my woodworking tools and my home is filled knee-deep with my completed projects.” Where does he get his inspiration? “I subscribe to a magazine dedicated to woodworking and watch lots of YouTube videos.”

His most exotic pieces feature oak, ash, hickory, and walnut perfectly fitted together to create a puzzle pattern that has you seeing something new each time. He’s become so adept in creating his boards, that all it takes now is a hardwood slab, a vision of what he wants to create and then “allows the wood to speak to him” as he assembles the pieces. From start to finish, his one-of-a-kind boards can take up to five hours of concentration.

Woodworking is a great hobby for those who love to work in solitary and let their thoughts roam. That describes Skaggs who is proud of his finished products, whatever they may be, and has recently brought various items to the Carson City Chamber Artisan Shop to sell to those who enjoy buying a “Made in Nevada” art piece from a local artist.

These make great gifts for any occasion, including weddings. While woodworking is one of his passions, his other passion is traveling with his wife Lou all over the world leaving no stone unturned. He and Lou are also very involved with the local Lions Club, where during the holidays you can see them selling See’s Candy as a fundraiser for the club.

“I love the challenge of working with wood and find it fun and stimulating keeping my brain active and sharp,” he said. All his pieces are stamped with his logo and no two creations are the same.