Woodworking Artist Johnny {J W} Morlan Personal Quotes
24th December 2005
* "Besides paying federal, state, county, city, social security, medicare, property and sales taxes, I create, handcraft and sell a little merchandise too!" Johnny W Morlan
* "Customers are quite a treasure, we serve them with great pleasure!" Johnny W Morlan
* "If someone has great passion {not love} for what they do, it is not work. I have not worked one single day since 1989!" Johnny W Morlan
* "I can give kindergarteners a piece of sandpaper and teach them how to round 90 degree corners. Da!" Johnny W Morlan
* "The size of a persons shop, the finest tools that money can buy and the best raw materials that one starts with do not most of the time produce quality, fine craftsmanship, works of art or help in creating or making wooden items. What does though, is passion {not love}, heart, soul, ingenuity and a lot of homemade jigs." Johnny W Morlan
* "Just because a woodworker makes an object from a beautiful figured piece of wood does not make them a woodworking artist or the piece a work of art. Nature created the wood, not them! True wood art has intricateness!" Johnny W Morlan
* "There are two kinds of artists, one uses their skills, tools, talent, knowledge and their style to create a piece from their own ideas, visions, or dreams, and then presents the piece to the world."
The other, along with being able to create a piece from their own ideas, visions and dreams, can also use their skills, tools, talent, knowledge, and add a touch of their own style to make someone else's ideas, visions and dreams into an 2 or 3 dimensional reality, thus creating a very special custom made piece or pieces." Johnny W. Morlan
* "Deadly sin number eight is, to fill the pores of wood with some type of filler. It would be just like filling all of your fingerprints. It is one of the natural characteristics that help make each piece of wood, one of a kind, just like your own fingerprints do for you. Wood is not meant to look like a piece of glass or plastic!" Johnny W Morlan
* "The greatest thrill in life to me, is having people tell me what I am trying to make is impossible, when I am actually almost finished with it." Johnny W Morlan
* "The two main differences between a professional woodworker and a professional woodworking artist, are the latter creates by letting their imagination run wild, then uses their talent, skills and tools to make their imagination become a reality, incorporating any mistakes made along the way, into the design. When finished, people can't find the mistakes and assume what they are looking at is true excellence." Johnny W. Morlan
Occupation: Woodworking Artist Designer
Johnny has had his website and been the webmaster since 1995. 95% of his sales come from his business website and 99% of his orders come from people who live more than 200 miles away from his business location. As a young boy helping his father with carpentry jobs, Johnny Morlan could never guess that one day his gorgeous wood pieces would adorn not only the finest American and European homes, but would even be presented to the President and First Lady of the United States. When Johnny was just seven years old, living in Moberly, Missouri with his family, he began assisting his father, working on various carpentry projects. By the time he was a teen, the artistry that would later make him such a success was already apparent. "My dad would get annoyed with me because I would always want to make the finish moldings and cabinets more intricate," Johnny chuckles. He loved making small wood objects, but was often told by his father and others that there just wasn't a market for such items. "Well, in 1989, I stopped listening to the nay-sayers, "Johnny says, "and I've never looked back." Having already worked for a furniture contractor and in the lumber and hardware businesses, he had a solid base of knowledge as he founded J.W. Morlana's Unique Wood Gifts. But he also had a passion to keep learning and growing in his craft, reading over 220 books on the subject and constantly striving for perfection. Now working in Lubbock, Texas and a recognized master in his trade, Johnny Morlan has worked with over 500 species of wood and keeps more than 125 species in stock. He cares deeply about the environment, works with woods endorsed by the Rainforest Alliance Smart Wood Program, and in the last few years was nominated for several distinguished leadership awards. Johnny has worked with unique woods since 1983. People from over 130 countries have viewed and admired his creations. He is a member of the International Who's Who Historical Society {his short biography is featured in the 2001-2002 edition of the International Who's Who of Entrepreneurs}. He is a member of the following organizations and associations: Rainforest Alliance Smart Wood Program, National Arbor Day Foundation, International Wood Collectors Society, Woodworker's Website Association, Woodworkers Book Club and a lifetime member of Handyman Club of America. Some of Johnny's creations have been bought by or given as presents to professional people, foreign dignitaries of state, celebrities and even the President and the First Lady of the United States.
