December 2008
Graceful Hands and a Heart of Soul
by Marjorie Lilly
Ron Kowalski’s, woodcarving career began in Connecticut at school. "I used to always carve on the bench in the principal’s office," Kowalski says. "Then my buddies would carve on it, too. It was just our names, but it was nice."
Since then his woodcarvings have found their place in churches, private homes and stores in New Mexico. He does mostly religious figures in a Hispanic style, but he has also done a Billy the Kid, some kachina figures and store signs.
Kowalski’s father brought him to New Mexico when he was in his 20s because he was getting too involved in violent gangs. Tattoos and some dark memories are all that remain from that period.
He started getting serious about woodworking when he was employed at his brother’s cabinetmaking shop in Las Cruces. It helped him move away from his past. "I wanted to do good things," he says. "I was doing decorations on cabinets—just simple designs. But I started getting good and doing more complicated designs." He now does art full time in Deming.
From the start he had an affinity with the Hispanic folk art style in New Mexico because of his Latin background. His name, Kowalski, is Russian, but he’s three-quarters Italian. "My roots are important to me," he says. He’s one of the only people working in this genre in southern New Mexico.
His works are simply drawn, and have a consciously primitive, rough-hewn style. His human figures look out with candid, open eyes. The colors are rich and subtle. He uses acrylic paints because of the low cost, but thinks they are durable colors. "I’ve seen ones that I’ve done years ago and they still look good," he says. Kowalski uses simple tools—chisels, a small belt sander and a Dremel tool for small designs.
His favorite wood is mesquite. "If you get a good cut on it, it’s two-toned. The heartwood is dark, but the outer pieces have a goldish color. If I make a bulto of mesquite, I’ll give it a natural finish. If it’s pine I’ll paint it."
Kowalski’s pieces are all over New Mexico, from Santa Fe and Albuquerque to Las Cruces and Deming. He’s sold some to the Council of Churches in New Mexico and made a beautiful Guadalupe for the Tortugas community south of Las Cruces for their pilgrimage up Tortugas Mountain every December.
A man near Las Cruces had him carve large kachinas on every cabinet door. "The guy had me sign a contract that I wouldn’t do the same thing for someone else," he says. He says the bodyguards of Lech Walesa of Poland were in Las Cruces years ago and purchased one of his works.
But Kowalski doesn’t make a whole lot of money at his craft. "You can’t figure it out by the hours. It would be too depressing," he says with a wry smile. "I feel pretty fired up when I’m carving," he says. "It makes me feel good." He considers doing something else sometimes, but "it seems like it would be a waste of a gift.
Ron Kowalski may be contacted at 575-494-2893.
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