Never missing an opportunity to revel in the natural world’s wonder,
or take for granted the most unlikely timber as precious art,
I exalt wood’s elaborate intricacies and exploit seeming defects,
elevating them to centerpieces of a perfection of form, character, and beauty.
From expansive crosscut landscape vistas to engrossing contoured bowls and graceful ornamental sculptures,
I craft inspiring pieces that boldly reflect the eternal communion between nature and art.
                                                                                                               - Paul Saint Laurent

Paul Saint Laurent’s unprecedented recent fine arts work exalts wood’s natural complexities to a new art form.  Saint Laurent’s distinctive muse tells many stories.  Paralleling known history, radiating growth rings emanating from a minute heart acutely depict decades of prosperity and strife across far-flung climes.  Varying bark textures peel away to reveal surprising naturescapes shaped by the ravages of time, long-abandoned infestations, and delicate grain patterns with curious movement that hold spectators spellbound.

   Arising from his diverse mastery of professional jewelry design, drawing and painting,
   ceramics, and photography, Saint Laurent’s fine arts woodworking melds unorthodox
   craftsmanship with abstract impressionism.  Scouring the globe for remarkable
   configurations of common and exotic woods--many from reclaimed or renewable
   resources--he employs chain and power saws, lathes, carving and sculpting tools to
   reveal an otherwise unseen majesty lying dormant in lonely logs.

   Flaunting the wood’s characteristics and 
   markings, Saint Laurent seeks a balance
   between his own ingenuity and the
   inherent aesthetic appeal of raw wood.
   His precision lengthwise cuts through the
   center are marked by thin, vertical ray
   lines while lengthwise outer cuts expose
   wavy grains and wider rays, prized for
   their evocative splendor.  Retaining the wood’s natural state, Saint Laurent uses no stain, but meticulously finishes his pieces with multiple layers of a clear spray finish, hand rubbed between coatings, or with natural oils for
food safe vessels and utensils.