Class of 2014: Holden Roberts mixes paint and pine
Holden Roberts has taken every art and wood working class offered at Whitefish High School. On the weekends, it’s not unusual for the senior to spend eight hours working in the carport woodshop at his house.
Displayed in his home are numerous sculptures in various states of production. One of his favorites is a recycled shipping pallet with rustic wood that he used house paints to paint a skier slicing through powder. A work in progress, a portrait of Abraham Lincoln constructed from small pieces of wood fitted together like a puzzle, waits for him to fill in the missing pieces.
“Art is endless,” he said. “You can create anything you want. Mixing wood and art is my favorite because you can use structures and add artistic flavor to it.”
Roberts lists off numerous projects he did during school, including constructing Adirondack chairs, a wooden canoe that was a group project, and a dog house that was constructed to building code standards.
“That got me the practical skills to take it to the next step,” he said.
During high school, Roberts spent four years on the tennis team, played three years of golf and ran one season with cross-country. He’s been part of the drama club designing and constructing sets, something that gave him the chance to express his vision in a whole new way.
“The sets can be very free-form, but still represent an actual place,” he said. “It was pretty cool to build a big house on stage.”
Some of Roberts’ pieces hang on the wall for visual enjoyment, while others like a wooden end table he constructed, have more practical applications. Roberts said there is a happy medium between both.
“I love creating art on paper, but there’s something about building art that is really cool,” he said. “I like wood because I like working with my hands. There’s so many ways you can shape wood.”
When it comes to finding inspiration, Roberts often pulls out a piece from his scrap pile that will spark an idea. Sometimes inspiration comes from the world around him. When he saw a wooden collage to create a generic outdoor scene, he realized he could take that same concept and make it into a portrait of Lincoln, who he chose to symbolize freedom of wood and art.
“There’s so many different directions to go and I’m excited to create what I have in my head,” he said. “I don’t want to focus on one genre.”
Roberts spent some time last summer working with a cabinet maker. It was an experience that made him realize he enjoys the creative side of wood working rather than production.
“I learned that’s not where I want to go with wood working,” he said. “I would spend eight hours cutting out one side of drawers and then move on to the other side of the drawer.”
Roberts plans to attend Montana State University in the fall to study architecture.
“I don’t want to be a sit-at-the-desk architect and drawing up plans,” he said. “I want to use those structural skills from architecture to do a creative mix. No matter what, I’ll always keep doing art and building.”