In Memoriam
On September 14, 2020, the world lost a true artist. True artists are not artists only because of what they create, but because of what they observe in the world around them. An artist’s eye sees things differently, with an appreciation for ordinary, and a brain that can translate this appreciation into something extraordinary. They contemplate and feel and emote, and in the end, there is something tangible for the rest of us to experience.
Ron Cowan appreciated humans – their minds, their emotions, their ideas, and their personalities. He observed ordinary, every day people walking around him and translated it all through expressions in wood. Garden muses, if you will. Companions who you may not have given a second thought, but who you instantly recognize when you see them through Ron’s eye. Faces who bring comfort, laughter, and reminiscent reverie. A pause amid this chaotic world.
Drawing from a Picasso quote, Ron would often say, “Inspiration will best find you at work.” Finding Ron at work was to approach him amid piles of chisel chips standing in a cloud of sawdust, a bandana pulled up over his nose. At which point the bandana would come down, a big smile would be revealed, and those blue eyes would fill like the heavens as they found your face.
This site is a tribute to Ron’s work and the many spirits he brought out of the wood. We know that his spirit is surrounding us now in the rustling leaves, the salt water breeze, and the starlight that twinkles down through cold winter nights. To see beauty in things where others do not, is to see the world through Ron Cowan’s eyes. In this way he will live on.