Deltona Regional Library - Bob Kopec

Over the Horizon, 1996
Wood carving

Bob Kopec
Longwood, Fla.
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Bob Kopec was born in New York and attended the State University of New York and George Washington University. He is a self-taught woodworker who focuses on handcrafted wood furniture and the exploration of the vessel form in wood. 

Kopec's work has been included in exhibitions at the Renwick Gallery-National Museum of American Art of the Smithsonian Institution and has been featured in American Craft Magazine and many other trade journals. He received an Individual Artist Fellowship from the State of Florida, and his work is included in many private, corporate and museum collections.

"My work with wood is directed by many influences; however, it appears as though the life-spirit of the wood itself is among the most meaningful to me. This life spirit can be experienced when one looks upon a wooden object and senses this unique beauty in the color or graining, or when running your fingertips along the surface of the piece to experience the warmth and textures still alive in the wood. I enjoy the interaction and communication between the wood and the craftsman. The voice of the life-spirit allows a sensitive craftsman to work in harmony to synthesize the craftsman's concepts and visions with what the wood itself wants to say to produce a work of beauty and harmony." – Bob Kopec