Townsman, 1991-11, Page 15made many barns for area farmers and ,
says that two of his wagons were
ordered by women — one to deliver
Avon, the other to transport her three
small children around town.
Bill has had no formal training,
yet his pieces are quite obviously the
work of a skilled craftsperson. Much
of his knowledge he gained by osmo-
sis, when as a young boy he watched
his carpenter father at work. He
recalls a time when he assisted his
father, who was doing some interior
woodwork in John Diefenbaker's Port
Albert, Saskatchewan home. Working
hand in hand with his father, however,
did not inspire Bill towards a career in
woodworking. "I hated it because I
was always his gopher," said Bill. "I
was the guy running for the tools and
I said I'd never want to be a carpenter
if I had to do that."
The enchantment of making
handcrafted pieces from the natural
beauty of wood must have left its
mark, in some small degree, though,
as Bill eventually began creating his
own pieces, which he sold at the craft
stores he owned — four in London,
one in Thorndale and later one in
Seaforth — before moving to Blyth. It
was after setting up a table at the
Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion
Craft Show that he became recognized
in the Blyth area for his work and
orders started coming in.
The first item he sold in Blyth
was a rocking horse, which is one of
his favourite toys to make. That love
shows in the beauty of the product
and Bill constantly works to improve
on them. He uses photos to compare,
then his skilled hands work to bring
the wooden creatures to life. He has
recently completed one with its head
turned slightly to make'it more realis-
tic and even carved teeth into the
mouth. Bridles, saddles and stirrups
complete the look. He remembers
once being at a craft show, when two
little girls came up and hugged one of
his rocking horses. "I knew for the
first time that I had created something
real for them," he said.
While Bill views his talent mat-
ter-of-factly, Jo lavishes praise. "He
will just take a piece of wood and
draw what he wants on it," she said.
"A lot of his ideas come straight from
his head, though he docs see the odd
thing which inspires him." For exam-
ple, he happened to notice a gliding
rocking chair while at work one day,
and incorporated the concept into his
rocking horses.
The painstaking task of finishing
the wood pieces has ultimately fallen
on Jo. Though Bill used to complete
the final touches to his craftwork, he
says, with amusement, that Jo has
"gotten too particular".
"Sanding is a big thing," says Jo.
"You can make anything you want,
Jo smooths
way to toys'
clean style
but if you don't sand it right it will
ruin the look."
Despite the quality of the Lan -
don's craft, their prices are compara-
ble, if not downright reasonable.
"People who appreciate this type of
woodcraft, know that they are going
to pay a little more for something like
this than they would at Sears, for
example," says Bill.
Other than the rocking horses,
which take about one month to finish,
the Landons can usually finish a piece
in two weeks. Bill likes to fill his
orders within that time frame so he
won't get backlogged and with orders
coming from all over — he has had
customers as far away as Calgary—
the Landon's "hobby" can keep them
pretty busy. Yet, the enjoyment Bill
finds in his work is evident and like
his northerly equal, sharing that gift
with others adds to the enrichment.
_zatrOtling
ChrAstmas
gilts?
Why not
a subscription
to Townsman
Mae GALLERY
El 291-
TOWNSMAN/NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1991 13