Today we’d like to introduce you to Troy Harrison.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was raised and grew up in the very small town of Muldoon, TX. My family lived on about 50 acres, and I spent most of my time outdoors working on the property or taking care of the animals. My father had a stroke when I was 15, which forced us to relocate to a nearby small town.
Shortly after my father got sick and our family was bouncing from rental home to rental home, I dropped out of high school and took a job at a land surveying firm in Columbus, TX. I worked there for about 11 years, working my way up from rod man to eventually gain the title of Vice President of Construction Surveying. During my time there, my wife and I ended up in Beaumont, TX where she would complete a two-year clerkship for a federal judge. This is where my woodworking adventure began (and my love for crawfish). My wife decided she wanted a coffee table, and I decided I would build it. I purchased a portable table saw and chop saw, and the rest is history. Four years later, our home is now filled with custom furniture that I designed and built myself during our time in Beaumont. Once our two years in Beaumont were up, we were Houston-bound. I continued woodworking as a hobby and also began to take small consignments for furniture and crafts. These days, I am either in my shop, selling crafts at a market, or spoiling my two dogs. I am mostly self-taught, although I heavily leaned on YouTube during most of my “first time” builds. One thing led to another, and with a lot of help and support from my wife, in November 2017 Knotty Woodworx was born.
Please tell us about your art.
At Knotty Woodworx, you’ll find one-of-a-kind wooden crafts, such as cutting boards, serving trays, succulent planters, wall art and much more. I am very dedicated to all hand-built production. All of my wood crafts are made by hand from start to finish. Each piece is designed and crafted by me in my shop. I pick out quality woods from a local Houston hardwood supplier and make each individual cut myself. I then design the patterns of each board and assemble the wood to make unique products. My favorite product has to be our cutting boards, which are finished to a smooth surface and hand-rubbed with a combination mineral oil and beeswax, so they are food-safe and ready to use, even if they look too pretty to cut on! The boards are then coated with more wax and buffed to a soft, smooth, shine. The finishing process seals the wood and protects the board while allowing you to enjoy the natural beauty of the wood. We do not use stains, so the color you see reflects the natural color of the wood. Crafted in my home woodshop in the middle of Houston, Texas, these handmade crafts make beautiful gifts that are sure to impress.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
There are so many challenges, it’s hard to pick just one. After some thought, I have settled on. time. “What is next most important?”. Production, marketing, branding, exposure, taxes, social media, and the list goes on and on.
Wait, did I mention life outside of “work”?
There is no perfect algorithm that equals success, and there is no magic 8 ball with all of the answers. It’s important to keep a healthy balance between work and life, and with so many choices to be made, and time investments to research each possible avenue – sometimes this is near impossible.
We are nowhere near reaching our highest goals, but it’s taken so much effort and time to get to this point… and maybe a bit of luck. You have to love what you’re doing, because to be successful you’ll be doing it a lot.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
Instagram is definitely our strongest social media presence and is a great place to see lots of my work. We post weekly about markets we will be attending in and around Houston, and we love to chat with customers at our booth so come see us there. We have also just launched a website, which we have several of our kitchen products available for purchase on now.
As for supporting my work, I urge everyone to buy local. Avoid the big box stores and find a local artisan, craftsman or farmer to purchase your produce and crafts/gifts from. We all have to support each other to keep the dream alive, and you’ll be getting a quality product made by a neighbor.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.knottywworx.com/
- Phone: 7135025567
- Email: knotty.w.worx@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/knottywoodworx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/knottywoodworx/
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
