‘A Labor of Love’

WAITSBURG - The north end of Waitsburg's Main Street will become home to a new business just in time for the Christmas shopping season. Waitsburg couple Ray and Deb Fosnot have rented the former Delta Connection building across from the Grain Growers and will open the doors as R&D Creations on Thurs- day morning.

Ray is "working on retir- ing" and hopes the new shop will provide an outlet for him to continue doing what he loves - making creations from wood. His wife Deb enjoys turning trash to trea- sure; especially restoring and renovating old furniture.

The store will showcase Ray's intarsia wood art, wood furniture and wooden pepper mills and coffee grinders, along with Deb's furniture restoration projects. The couple plan to offer handcrafted items from other artists in the near future.

Ray, a part-time wood shop teach- er at Jubilee Leadership Academy (formerly Jubilee Youth Ranch), says he began creating wood art about ten years ago, but has worked with wood his "whole life".

The art came about as a solution to a problem Ray encountered while teaching at Jubilee. "The rooms were so small that if you had two boys and they both made a table, there wasn't room to get around them to get out the door," said Ray.

He began studying intarsia - an elaborate form of marquetry using wood inlays - by looking at pictures and copying the designs. Once Ray learned the process, he taught the boys at Jubilee, who were receptive to the art form. "Anyone can do it," said Ray. "You just need to know how to use a scroll saw and have some patience."

That statement is difficult to be- lieve when viewing the creations that line the store walls. Ray's designs range from wood-stained deer and mule heads made following patterns, to colorful and elaborate raisedwinged Phoenixes that Ray says are "out of my own head." The wood art pieces range in price from $15 to $200. "It's just fun. I love doing it," said Ray.

Ray also keeps busy creating custom furniture and wood items. His work can be seen throughout the valley. He recently crafted tables for Coppei Coffee and made a butcher block table for the owner of Manila Bay restaurant in Dayton. He made a large set of file cabinets for Hubbard Law Office, an interior door for Waitsburg City Hall and the Lion's head symbol that hangs in the Waitsburg Lion's build- ing. He just completed an impressive rocking motorcycle (as opposed to a rocking horse) for a friend.

"If someone has dimensions and an idea of what they want, he can build it," said Deb. The couple plans to display photo albums of Ray's work that customers can look to for inspiration for custom pieces.

In addition to Ray's art and fur- niture pieces, the store will house Deb's creations. "I just hate to see stuff thrown away when it's still perfectly fine," said Deb. Deb snaps up secondhand pieces that she can paint, refinish, reupholster or other- wise transform into something beautiful. "If something needs repaired, Ray fixes it. Then I make it pretty," said Deb.

R&D Creations will be open weekly from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thurs- day through Saturday. This weekend they will be open on Sunday as well for Waitsburg's Hometown Christ- mas.

"We're hoping people will stop in to see what we have and let us know what they would like to see more of," said Deb.