About the Work

My work is meant to be used daily to enhance those experiences which we so often overlook. I hope my work allows you to be present in those moments when you are eating, cooking or going about your daily business. In my home growing up, cooking was an event that the family shared together. My mother especially loved sharing that time with her children, and we bonded over the process and the finished product. I hope my work allows you to do the same with your family and loved ones. Cooking for others is an act of service, and for me, so is creating the items you use in your kitchen and use to serve others.

I’ve chosen to use wood as the medium for my creativity for a few reasons. When these pieces are used, they are meant to remind us of our connection to the natural world. A wooden vessel, unlike those in ceramic or glass, displays the character and intention of that particular tree as it’s grown. As the maker, the tree presents me with options and obstacles. There are areas which I have to avoid where the tree has put out it’s branches or developed a scar where disease or insects have attacked. I can also take what the tree presents me and use it to enhance and influence what I create. Finding ways to highlight the grain, figure or other characteristics of the wood is always on my mind. Working around imperfections gives me an opportunity to solve problems the tree presents in ways I may not have considered otherwise. In many ways, it is a collaboration, a call and response between me and the tree.

About the Material

One of the appealing things about working with wood is the availability of the material. Where I live, trees are everywhere growing and changing in ways that are unique to every individual. Older trees will sometimes die or overextend themselves and they topple over. In The Soul of A Tree, Nakashima tells us that, “When trees mature, it is fair and moral that they are cut for man’s use, as they would soon decay and return to the earth. Tress have a yearning to live again, perhaps to provide the beauty, strength and utility to serve man, even to become an object of great artistic worth.” I love the idea of giving the tree a second life, one which celebrates the tough years it spent growing from a tiny sapling into a giant whose size is something to marvel at.

With few exceptions, the wood I use is material that would otherwise go to waste, either rotting in the woods or burning in the stove. I’m the one that friends and neighbors call when a storm topples a birch tree, or when they find a maple that once was a thoughtful accent to a flower garden has grown so large it threatens the house. It’s then that I set to work with the chainsaw and prepare my material for the lathe or the knife. Between just the two farms that border my home and workshop, I could source all the material I need for a lifetime, just from trees fallen in storms. I’m happy though to also provide a valuable service to my friends in the area in removing those trees which have become a nuisance, especially so when the material is something nice like walnut. In 2018 I cut a massive tree threatening an 83 year old friend’s home and garden. All of the hundreds of walnut pieces I’ve produced since then are from that one tree. In addition, I often find myself finding uses for the material cleared away from the power lines by the electric company or cleared by construction crews for a new home.

About Luke

Beginning at a young age, I had an interest in woodworking and building. As a toddler, I carried around a plastic hammer which led to my first word, “Bang!”. After getting my BFA from Alfred University where I studied Sculpture and Woodworking, I spent three years designing and constructing Timber Frame buildings as well as cabinets. During this period, I also served as the Foundry Technician at The National Casting Center at Alfred University. In 2015, I began work as the Wood Shop Technician and Adjunct Woodworking Instructor at Alfred University. I’m currently the Wood Shop Technician and Artist Instructor at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading, PA and a regular contributor to Woodcarving Illustrated and Scroll Saw Woodworking. I sell my handmade wooden items for the kitchen and home at craft fairs and stores throughout the region and online.

I use food safe finishes on my work and many pieces feature Real Milk Paint brand products. You can try them yourself and get 10% off with the coupon code “LuLu22” or follow this link to their website: https://www.realmilkpaint.com/ref/lukevoytas/

Art and Craft Shows 2023

Kutztown Folk Festival- Kutztown, PA 7/1-7/9

Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show- Mount Gretna, PA 8/19-8/20

Long’s Park Art Festival- Lancaster, PA 9/1-9/3

New Hope Arts and Crafts Festival- New Hope, PA 9/23-9/24

Albany Arts Festival- Kempton, PA 10/21

RBGC Holiday Fine Art & Craft Festival- Kutztown, PA 11/4-11/5

Kutztown Historical Society Arts and Craft Show- Kutztown, PA 11/11

Arts Festival Reading @GoggleWorks. Reading, PA 12/2