Note the time! Fred Luken’s myrtle wood clock…arrived just in time for the June 3rd, 5:pm opening reception of Iconic at Fairweather’s.
About Fred Lukens:
I was born in 1942 during the height of World War Two and my parents raised myself and my two brothers in Portland. We had a very happy childhood with many family members close at hand.
When I was 6 years old we moved out to east county and lived on an acre of property raising a lot of our own food both vegetables and meat.
I attended school at Gilbert Grade School and David Douglas High School. When I turned 16, I joined the U.S Naval Reserves and upon graduation from high school, I immediately went into active service which happened during the Berlin Wall crisis, this placed me active duty prior to my 18th birthday. I spent 2 years of active service both in the Asian theater and then stateside based out of San Francisco, Ca. At 21 years old I moved back to Oregon and worked in the retail market for a number of years and then into product management for a couple of manufactures in the local area.In 1972 I had another career change by going into sales as a manufactures agent covering Oregon, Washington & Alaska.
In 1985 along with a business partner we created a business that started at zero and by the time I retired in 2005 sales had reached unexpected results. We specialized with any product that involved water, this included water handling, purification, and irrigation. I am proud to say that we were recognized as one of the “go to” authorities in our field. I had the great pleasure to work with some very gracious and wonderful people in my business career of whom I still communicate with.
In 2006 my wife and I decided to sell our home and purchase a travel trailer and set out to see the greater Pacific North West. We traveled thru Oregon, Washington Idaho and parts of Canada before settling back down in Oregon and purchased an acre of land in Sandy, Oregon. I took an old garage that was already on the property and completely refurbished the exterior and had the interior rewired to allow the necessary wood tools that I needed to start working on the projects I am currently able to present for sale and at the same time enjoy producing.
“Much of the raw wood products come from all over the world, South America, Africa, and also our beautiful southern Oregon coast which grows Myrtle wood which many say will soon disappear from the United States.”-– Fred Lukens
“A finished myrtle wood piece is gorgeous and it is easy to see why people fall in love with them. After all, each provides the new owner a little piece of Oregon created by a local artisan who take tremendous pride in creating unique works in rare wood. “ — Grant McCombie
For more about Grant’s recommendations, please visit http://traveloregon.com/trip-ideas/grants-getaways/
Q: Where in Oregon is myrtle wood is found, you ask?
A: Oregon has a “banana belt,” a warm landscape along the southern coast, but you will not find pineapple, mango, or papaya growing there. Instead, you will find plenty of cedar, fir and even giant redwoods – plus, one particular hardwood variety that grows from south of Reedsport through Northern California and east from the Coast Range Mountains to the I-5 corridor in the Alfred A. Loeb State Park.
Q: Where is the Alfred A. Loeb State Park, you ask?
A: The park is located near Brookings, Oregon. Your first impression of Loeb may well be the scent of the myrtle wood forest … a crisp, bay leaf aroma. The park is nestled in a grove of lovely myrtle wood trees through Alfred A. Loeb State Park. It is the largest public-owned old growth myrtle stand in the state! The park land was acquired by gift from the State Board of Forestry. It was a tract purchased by Save the Myrtle Woods, Inc. from Alfred A. Loeb of Portland for protecting the outstanding native myrtle trees and other vegetation along the Chetco River.
For more info please visit http://www.stateparks.com/alfred_a_loeb_state_park_in_oregon.html
Fun Fact: Myrtle wood, a rare hard wood, is a distinctly Oregon wood, found nowhere else in the United States; indeed some may say, found nowhere else other than in the Holy Land.