The Man, The Myth, The Legend.... Larry Tramp ,or LT as most know him, is a custodian at Crofton Community Schools and creates woodworking projects in his spare time, it is a favorite hobby of his.
"I'm always interested in dinkin' with my hands and wood was always something you could always come across.", Tramp said. Tramp got the idea of carving wood from his brother-in-law who also carves. He has been carving for almost one year.
Tramp uses all types of wood: black walnut, cottonwood, cedar, plum, cherry and apple. His favorite things to make are black walnut bowls and vases. "They have a certain design to them that I enjoy." When making each individual piece, he said that you have to have an idea in your head of how you want it to look and try not to mess up, but "There's no such thing as ever screwin' up, cause you can always make it something different."
Once he picks the log, he turns the corners and starts rounding. He then just follows his idea and continues with sanding and finishing the piece. He has to have a lot of patience, be gentle, and just have his mind set on what he's doing. Tramp enjoys making different pieces with their own unique markings. "It's never the same, you have three pieces of wood out of the same branch and they will not turn out the same."
His most popular pieces are vases and bowls with live bark edges. His most difficult projects are Y-bowls, wooden gnomes, or twig pots, and the largest thing he's ever made was 16" tall X 10" wide, but he enjoys every challenge. Tramp underestimated the popularity of his work. He stated, "I should've started five years ago because people are really enjoying it." He is not doing it to make a profit, just to make everyone happy.
He advertises on Facebook as well as word of mouth. Tramp hopes that in five years he will be retired, going to craft shows, and working on his carvings.