Chuck Strauss

Chuck Strauss has been woodworking since the 1960s, starting with small furniture items for family use, motivated by his wife Jane. Living in Chester County, Pennsylvania, beginning in the 1970s, Chuck’s skills transitioned into wood carving, beginning with carved decorative waterfowl decoys, then into a wide variety of Santa Clauses and other figurines. These were mostly rendered as gifts for friends and family, but soon he and Jane started exhibiting at craft shows. His Santas were also featured in the Blue Skies Gallery in Hampton, Virginia. He is now very pleased to exhibit his efforts at the Rockfish Valley Gifts Gallery.

Although he spent his working career in sales and marketing and association management positions, he says he loves to work with wood because it “does what it’s supposed to, unless I make a mistake.”

Additional items are included, depending on the season, such as Christmas Tree ornaments, Valentine’s Gifts, St. Patrick’s Day trinkets, and religious objects, such as crosses and plaques. Popular refrigerator magnets, again, seasonally, are among his artistic products. His recent interests include comfort birds. These small wooden creations help conquer stress and bring happiness.

If you’ve been to the Abby Aldridge Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in Williamsburg, you might recognize these “primitive” critters. Chuck copied them from photographs and observation.