Kenny McArthur

Anyone familiar with Cape Hatteras or, more specifically, Hatteras Village proper, knows what a unique place it is. Besides offering a glimpse back into a simpler era, what strikes visitors is the singular character of its inhabitants.

As a fourth generation Hatterasman, local custom woodworker Kenny McArthur can offer clues about the Hatteras mindset. "Hatteras is about nature and soul," he says. "It's about sunsets, fishing, surfing and good friends and family. The people there practice an old way of life based around kindness and generosity. Growing up, there was always space at our table for one more, and it was that way with everyone there. Wherever Hatteras folk go, they help promote that tradition."

In 2003, when Hurricane Isabel hit Hatteras, the Village itself was without power for four days. "Many of our needs were met by the National Guard," McArthur remembers, "but after things cleared, locals immediately jumped in to help their neighbors clear debris and make necessary repairs. The local diner was serving free meals and the corner store was giving out canned goods and food. You feel connected to people, and the words 'neighbor' and 'community' seem to ring truer there."

But beyond promoting that lost art of caring, Hatteras imbues its locals with a strong inventive streak. "Hatteras has very limited resources and you have to be creative," McArthur explains. "It's a place for survivors. Growing up there opened my mind to a world of opportunities. I learned to use my imagination to create the things I couldn't find in the typical way. Happenstance plays a big role in there, too. All of a sudden, you find a component you'd been looking for to complete a construction project."

This resourcefulness played a large role in McArthur's childhood. "I was always being sent to my room. I'd always followed art from an early age, and I'd just take pen and paper and start drawing. My brother would pick up his guitar and start playing, and we'd feed off each other for ideas. He'd have a vision and I could see its potential. I'd pick up one of his ideas and run with it. He was, and still is a big inspiration to me." During this time, McArthur dabbled in building things. "I designed longboards and skateboards and picked up airbrushing. I loved making things with my hands," he says.

McArthur's eventual interest in custom woodworking grew out of his innate creative ability. "I got into it on my own. Though I had a lack of knowledge and skill, I started to realize that it might be a good avenue for me. Since I loved working with my hands and loved to draw, I figured woodworking might be a good way to incorporate all of my artistic abilities into one craft."
A subsequent stint with the Coast Guard and extensive travels throughout the Caribbean, however, put McArthur's pursuit on hold for a few years.

"I'm a big believer in hidden stepping stones," he tells me. "They lead you in new and different directions and open doors you thought were closed and locked tightly." One of these stones revealed itself at Louisiana art show. "It was a piece that used marquetry in its design," he recalls. "I fell in love with it immediately. I was amazed that this effect could be done with all these pieces of wood."

Marquetry can best be described as the art of "painting" with wood veneer. Originally developed by Flemish cabinet makers during the early 17th century, marquetry drew inspiration from the Florentine practice of inlaying solid marble slabs with fitted semi-precious stones. The technique employs numerous, intricately cut slivers of wood, some measuring 1/32nd of an inch thick, arranged to create a mosaic-type veneer. "People think it's painted on, until they look closely," McArthur says.

The inclusion of marquetry in North Carolina's renowned Rockingham Community College woodworking program was a deciding factor in his eventual enrollment. One of the most impressive pieces he's done in this style is a swerving marlin emblazoned on the backrest of a black walnut captain's chair. Throughout the grueling program (McArthur describes the summer session as "boot camp"), he produced, among many other pieces, a striking Celtic knot-inspired table with a glass top recessed into the pedestal, reproductions of classic period pieces, including a Queen Anne lowboy, and an elegant Windsor chair.

McArthur emerged from the school with a host of skills under his belt. He describes himself as a woodworker, specializing in fine and creative furniture and cabinet making with an emphasis on traditional joinery, but he's also adept with all manner of casework, carvings, inlaid mirrors, scrollwork, veneering, mantles, bed frames, headboards, frames, interior boatwork, and ingenious decorative turnings like ukuleles, wine stoppers, wall hangings, and pins. Whatever McArthur turns his hand to, it's sure to reflect his keen eye for detail, and each heirloom-quality creation blends functionality and durability with beauty and elegance.

It's no surprise that Rockingham is located in the heart of NC's High Point/Greensboro region, which has long been known as the furniture capital of the U.S. All the original pioneers of furniture making came from that area, and McArthur is proud to be carrying on that august tradition today. "The structure of each class was to teach ourselves to tackle various problems in an educated way as if we already owned our own business," he says.

There are many challenges associated with his craft. "You also learned to set high standards to achieve high-end results. It's a difficult process from conception and start to finish, but I like that challenge. The hardest thing to do is to learn something new, because human nature gives us the tendency to worry, but I like conquering obstacles. The key is just getting started."

"But more than anything," McArthur tells me, "patience plays a huge role in the building process. When you're using wood with lower tolerances there's a need for higher accuracy and therefore more potential for mistakes. You have to be willing to take the time to do it properly. You also have to be open-minded and adaptable. I always end up learning something new."

Though equipped with the latest machinery geared towards specialty projects, including top-of-the-line saws, joiners, planers, and a vacuum bag veneer system, McArthur often dips into his impressive collection of hand tools which often prove themselves to be more versatile. These also help him add his own custom touch, like delicate sand dollar and surfboard drawer handles.

These features make appearances on cabinets he's currently building for a friend in Satellite Beach. Fashioned from black limba, a beautiful variety of West African wood noted for the surreal quality of its pronounced grain, each component shows McArthur's painstaking adherence to he and his friend's original vision. "John really wanted to go with a Mediterranean feel," he says. "You have to think finish first with any project, and we spent a lot of time trying to determine how exterior factors would work with the finished product -- things like water resistance, the color of his terra cotta tile and lighting. You inevitably want the piece to flow with the surroundings without compromising the integrity of the wood itself."

To this end, McArthur spent hours lining up the grain so that when viewed from all vantage points the wood reveals hidden dimensions, conjuring vague shorelines, waves, horizons, and contours of distant cloud banks. "Black limba lends a lot to the imagination, and I was attracted to its visual versatility. Plus, it's very structurally sound," he tells me.

These startling visual effects spring from the natural surroundings that inspired the avid waterman throughout his youth. "I grew up surrounded by nature and the water," he says. "From sport fishing with my father, who ran a Gulf Stream charter boat, to my period in the Coast Guard and just surfing as a grom in Hatteras, water has always fed my artistic vision." In his spare time, McArthur also fashions custom trolling lures for offshore sports fishing.

The two traditions McArthur carries with him -- that of old-school empathetic affability and expert craftsmanship -- merge harmoniously in his work. "I like helping people and educating them," he says. "We live in a fast-paced society where those values have become just as disposable as a lot of the out-sourced, pop-out furniture that's been flooding the market. It's hard to compete with that sometimes, but when you take the time to care and put your true heart and soul into work you want to last, I think it's ultimately more valuable."

"When you get a finely-crafted piece of woodwork, you're not only getting something that will be around for a long time, you're also getting a piece of the artisan's life -- their story. You just can't get that from mass-produced woodwork."

Through his Satellite Beach-based Island Style Designs, Kenny McArthur is available for custom woodworking projects of all kinds and scales, and also offers hands-on woodworking lessons for individual adults and children. Contact him at (305) 394-2406 to set up an appointment.