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Meet the Artist: Brenda Behrens

Forty years ago, halfway around the world, Brenda Behrens had a rather auspicious start to her woodworking career.

While her then-husband was stationed at the U.S. Naval Air Facility in Atsugi, Japan, Behrens spent several days each week taking woodworking classes with a handful of other Navy wives. For almost three years, Behrens learned at the hands of master Japanese woodcarver Genji Ishihara.

“I learned how to use the traditional Japanese tools for woodcarving and learned the Kamakura style of carving,” Brenda said. “It was a long family tradition in Genji Ishihara’s family to embellish the wood for the temples in Japan. He sort of broke away from the family tradition and taught classes at the US naval air station. His family wasn’t happy with him, teaching the Kamakura style to these American ladies.

Collared Vessel III Catalpa Wood Size: 6 1/2 in. H. X 3 7/8 in. D.

“He had such a gentle personality. He was quite proud of all of his students.”

Since then, Behrens has obviously come a long way in the world of woodcarving and woodturning. Her artistic-form turned and carved pieces have drawn national acclaim and honors and is highly regarded by collectors.

A few years ago, during the Clinton administration, Brenda was one of the artists chosen to provide a decoration for the White House Christmas tree. “I turned and carved an angel out of Indian boxwood, and embellished it with gold leaf and ostrich feathers,” Brenda said. “Mrs. Clinton sent me a thank-you letter for the contribution to the Christmas tree, and a photo of the tree. I’m not quite sure how they selected me for the invitation, but I was very happy to respond.”

Dancing Leaves Oregon Striped Myrtle Size: 8 in. D. X 3 in. H.

This year, a few pieces of Brenda’s work were added to the permanent collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery. “That was one of my long-term goals, to have a piece in the permanent Smithsonian collection,” Brenda said. She also was an exhibiting artist at the International Exposition of Sculpture Objects and Functional Art (SOFA) in New York this past spring.

Brenda, who has four adult daughters and 11 grandchildren, was exposed to woodworking at an early age. Her great-grandfather, grandfather and father were all woodworkers, and she used to play in her grandfather’s woodworking shop when she was a child growing up in central Kansas. “So I got sawdust in my lungs when I was very young,” she said, laughing. Her brother, Roger Irwin, also is a woodworker; he builds fine furniture in Las Vegas.

Today, Brenda, 62, lives with her husband Richard on a ranch in Chino Valley, Arizona, where they raise thoroughbred horses (two of their horses race at Turf Paradise in Phoenix). They moved there four and a half years ago from California “because we were looking for some acreage so we could raise a couple horses,” Brenda said. “With developing the land and making a place for ourselves, and woodworking and raising horses, it’s been a busy time.”

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