Muddy Creek Artist: Q & A with Allen Cady

As part of a monthly series on local artists, Edgewater-Davidsonville Patch has teamed up with the Muddy Creek Artists Guild to focus on the arts scene in the area. The guild currently consists of about 100 local artists in mediums including photography, painting, textiles, jewelry, woodwork, metalwork and more. For information on upcoming shows, visit the Muddy Creek Artists Guild website. The guild has two"musts" for their artists: they must live south of the South River, and their art must be original.

This month we interviewed Edgewater-Galesville woodworker Allen Cady, a shipwright and artisan/craftsman who creates Antique Reproduction Furniture utilizing primarily reclaimed old growth lumber from centuries-old trees. Cady also creates free-form benches using unique lumber, and always keeping an eye to "what the wood wants to become." He offers an improved version of the traditional Adirondack chair which incorporates thin slats of Sassafras wood which conform to one's back making the chairs exceedingly comfortable.

How long have you been an artist working in the medium: I have been working with wood since a teenager. As a boatbuilder since the '70s and more recently as a freelance artisan/craftsman. I began working at Trumpy's boatyard and later independently restoring classic antique watercraft . In 1996-97, I built two Tom Gillmer (Pride of Baltimore designer) New Moon 28' sailboats.

What was your earliest recognition of your talent/skill: I draw inspiration primarily from the feeling evoked from observing nature. I strive to emulate the harmony of the natural world through the exploration of pattern and form expressed in my work. Each piece of wood is to be respected for its essence and the challenge is to let this essence be expressed in the created piece.

What is the range in price for your work? Depending on the work prices vary from $75 to $7,000

 Why do you do what you do? I do what I do as an act of co-creation. I feel it to be a responsibility.

If you could be another artist for a day, who would it be and why? To be Michalangelo for a day would be interesting.

What is most rewarding about being an artist? The freedom to follow one's irrational impulses into unknown territory.

What is most frustrating about being an artist? The constraints that convention places on the free flow of creativity.