Nellysford woman's wood projects became lifelong passion

What began as a project to build a home has turned into a life-long love affair with hardwoods for one Nellysford woman.

“I love wood,” Debbie Ballowe, 47, said. “I think trees are one of the most amazing creations out there.”

For more than 15 years, Ballowe has been using a scroll saw and sand paper to make handcrafted ornaments, keepsakes and home décor out of Nelson County-grown hardwoods.

“Every piece is different because of the wood,” Ballowe said about her work. “That’s why I do everything out of natural hardwoods because it’s the wood that makes it.”

Ballowe and her husband, Jimmy, built their home in the Nellysford area themselves almost 20 years ago. She said that project started her on the hobby of woodworking.

“(My husband) had gotten a table saw so he could do all the work and he had a wood magazine. In the wood magazine they had a silhouette, and I thought that was really cool,” she said. “I’ve always liked silhouettes. So that Christmas, he got me a scroll saw and I just started with that.”

Soon, her work, and the wood, was piling up around the house.

“I don’t like to waste the wood,” Ballowe said. “So sometimes I’ll have a piece of wood sit around because I’ll keep looking at it trying to find that right design.”

Over the years, the Ballowes have collected thousands of pounds of natural hardwoods from deadfall, hurricane damage or land clearing in areas of Nelson County. They’ll stack the wood on their property to dry it out before finding a way to use it in a piece.

Ballowe said sometimes finding that right piece of wood to use can be the toughest part.

“I sometimes get writer’s block, where I have a pattern I want to do but I can’t find the piece of wood I like,” she said. “I feel like my artistry is in the cutting and finishing, but also trying to find the right wood for the right pattern.”

A knot in a piece of cherry can be a snowman’s button, or lines in oak can be waves for a lighthouse scene.

“I’m not painting it, so I can’t get things exactly where I want but there are times where you see a knot just where it should be,” she said. “We just try to highlight the wood.”

Depending on the size of the piece and the number of steps needed to sand and seal it so it is ready for sale, Ballowe said her work can take anywhere from a few hours to a week.

“There are so many steps to the process,” she said. “It’s too hard to keep track. But a lot of loving care goes into each piece.”

Ballowe has sold her wooden wares in artist galleries around Nelson County and craft shows throughout Central Virginia.

While her kids were growing, it allowed her to work from home and now that they’re older, she said going to more craft shows is in the future. She and her husband, who crafts wooden boxes out of hardwoods, have also recently joined the Nelson County Crafters Guild.

“We’ve met fabulous people through doing the shows,” she said. “It is a great community of people.”