LAKEWOOD RANCH — When a client recently bought a $35 chrome and wood bottle stopper from Lakewood Ranch artist Jim O’Donnell, a personalized letter explaining the piece in detail came with it.
“Your bottle stopper is made from a wood from India called Macassar ebony,” O’Donnell wrote. “It is a very beautiful wood that frequently appears ‘marbleized’ because of contrasting light and dark streaks. This piece has three clear primer coats and four coats of gloss lacquer. It reminds me of the accents on mahogany furniture from the 1960s and 1970s.”
O’Donnell smiles later as he discusses the letters he writes to people who buy his art. “I’m a perfectionist,” he said.
O’Donnell, who buys exotic wood from all over the world and turns it into art on a lathe in his Summerfield Woods garage, will be one of about 30 artists who will be show- ing and selling their work at the 2009 Fall Art Show and Sale sponsored by the Creative Arts Association of Lakewood Ranch.
The event is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 21 at Town Hall, 8175 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., off University Parkway.
The event is free and open to the public and features hourly door prizes of art donated by the ar- tists, said Cheryl Grace, a spokeswoman for the event and a watercolor artist herself.
In a relatively short period of time, O’Donnell’s wood pieces have drawn critical praise for their stunning detail and overall beauty, according to his peers.
O’Donnell will be displaying 40 pieces, including his popular $35 wine stoppers,
Many artists will be bringing work in various media, Grace said.
Art media expected at the show include watercolor, jewelry, pottery, ceramic, wood, Japanese lamps, pastels, acrylic, tiles, textiles and mixed media.
Grace expects O’Donnell’s pieces to draw a crowd.
“Jim is an amazing artist,” she said.
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