Working with wood has allowed this young man with autism to find his place in the world

His hands are covered with scars and dried glue, the occupational hazards of woodworking.

Reeve Carter wears both with pride and passion.

The 22-year-old from Monmouth is more than just a woodworker; he's an artist. In each intricately designed cutting board or bowl that he labors to produce — and he makes a lot of them — is a piece of Reeve's soul.

Reeve said he doesn't plan what he's going to make. "I just let it create itself," he said.

Reeve doesn't take custom orders. His uncle once had to pay him $100 so he wouldn't cut a hole in a cutting board. And he really didn't want to do that.

The reality is that all of the things he makes are custom. Everything is unique.

People have asked Reeve to make multiples of the same piece, such as a matching set of bowls. He won't do it. That would turn his art into work.

"He wants to work for himself," his father, Steve, said.

Reeve's work is for sale at art galleries and stores throughout the Willamette Valley and the Oregon Coast. Some items have been selected through a jury process.

As a person with autism, the 22-year-old from Monmouth is curious. He loves to pepper strangers with questions about themselves and their knowledge of woodworking.

He's proud to display what he makes and those hands he uses to make those pieces.

"You got to make sure you have all your fingers," Reeve said.

Finding his passion in woodworking

Reeve attended schools in Dallas, including Oakdale Heights Elementary, Whitworth Elementary School, LaCreole Middle School and the Daily Living Skills school at Dallas High.

He says he never liked classes where standardized testing was required.

But in hands-on classes like wood shop and ceramics, he found a passion.

"If I got a little messy, I didn't mind," he said.

His parents have owned and operated Second Chance Books in Independence since before Reeve was born. That meant at least one parent was working at the shop most days.

Their day to be together as a family was on Sundays. Reeve often bugged his mother, Dina, while she tried to clean the house, so she encouraged him to go out to the workshop where his father was doing woodworking.

"He for many years just sat out there with me and watched me," Steve Carter said.

The first time Steve called Reeve over to try woodworking, when he was about 12 years old, the saw kicked back and the wood hit him in the stomach. That didn't stop him, though. Neither did a couple of other trips to the emergency room for cuts that needed stitches.

When Reeve started doing woodwork, he made frames and ornate wood boxes. Now, he makes only bowls and boards.

To make the pieces, he starts by gluing sticks of wood to get the rough shape. He clamps them together and lets them dry. Then, he starts cutting and shaping them with planers and lathes.

"Gluing, cutting, gluing, cutting, gluing, cutting," Reeve said.

He does so much he uses three gallons of wood glue per week. Plenty of it ends up on his hands and every door knob in the family’s home.

When finished with each board and bowl, Reeve coats them in food safe mineral oil.

He's had other pastimes such as playing miniature golf and chess. Those don't thrill him as much as woodworking.

Reeve is a 'machine'

Many people hear about Reeve's work and give wood to him, including some rare and expensive woods.

There are gigantic piles of sawdust outside of the shop at the family's home outside Monmouth, and they try to give that away.

His mother describes him as a "machine" when he comes to woodworking.

On a recent Friday he got a fresh load of wood. By Saturday night, he had made a half dozen cutting boards. And he also worked at his day job during that time. He works two or three days a week washing dishes in the restaurant at the Independence Hotel.

"We have a whole room at the house just loaded with the stuff," Steve said. "He never stops. Never stops."

"This is why we keep adding more galleries. He's fast," Dina said.

Reeve sold his boards and bowls at the Salem Art Fair this year, but he doesn't do a lot of those types of events. His parents say he has a hard time sitting still at those markets.

"And then we have to be here (at the bookstore)," Dina said.

He sells the cutting boards for $100 and the bowls for $60 to $70.

Locations that sell his work include River Gallery, Territory Restaurant and Second Chance Books in Independence; Bush Barn Art Center and Lulu's Tutto Cucina in Salem; Luneria in Silverton; Currents in McMinnville; and at galleries and stores up and down the coast.

Bill Poehler covers Marion and Polk County for the Statesman Journal. Contact him at bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Reeve Carter of Monmouth works with wood, making bowls, cutting boards