Shirley Jones at work in her garage workshop. "You could say my brother and I grew up with sawdust in our blood. My father built homes, and he did some cabinetry. He was very good at it. I always had an interest in it, but I never had the time to do the things I liked until I retired."

Shirley Jones doesn't have to look far to find inspiration for many of her nature-themed scroll saw projects. She lives in Kent, Washington, located halfway between Seattle and Tacoma near Puget Sound.

Shirley is surrounded by natural beauty - lakes, mountains, ocean - and looks to such Pacific Northwest treasures as Native American totems and whale woodcarvings for ideas. That natural theme is readily apparent in Shirley's woodworking. "I love wood for itself - for its grain and natural color," she said.

While Shirley looks to nature for inspiration, she's an inspirational figure in her own right. At area craft fairs where she showcases her work, Shirley encourages many of the women she meets to pursue creative outlets, especially woodworking.

"Whenever a woman stops by my booth at a craft fair and says, 'I couldn't do that,' I say, 'Yes, you can,' " Shirley said. "It just takes patience. You're going to break pieces of wood and you're going to break blades, but it all takes time and practice.

Copyright 2002, Rockler Companies, Inc.