My niece Leah wrote this wonderful speech for a class project
RON BAILEY - MY UNCLE
2009
"Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.” -
Marcus Cicero.
Hello, Mrs. Chamberlain, classmates, my uncle is a artist, not a
painter or a sculptor, he is a wood carver.
His name is Ron Bailey.He mainly carves fish but he does carve birds too. He has
received many awards including second in world decorative lifesize
at a carving competition. He also has arthritis but he still carves.He is a inspiration for me.
Ron has been interested in art ever since a young age.
In high school he took wood working, drafting, and machine shop. When
he graduated he started working as a structural draftsman. A
couple years later he applied for a forestry course at a community
college. Then he started working as a resource technician for 28 years.
Ron like everyone else has inspirations. He was inspired by a
book called “Game Bird Carving” by Bruce Burk. Ron was also
inspired by the carvings at the Ward World wildlife carving
competition in Maryland. He use to go outside and enjoy the
wildlife a lot, and the animals inspired him.
Ron has many carvings. One of his carvings is the Leafy
Seadragon, it is my favorite. The Leafy Seadragon has a yellow
body with green fins that look like leaves. It got second in world
decorative lifesize at the World Fish Carving Championships.
Some of his other carvings include the Spotfin Lionfish and the
Sockeye Salmon which both got a best of show award.
His carvings look so real and beautiful you feel like your in the ocean looking at the real fish.
They are so amazing these photos don’t do it justice.
He has got so many awards like:
6 best in show awards ; 4 second
best in show ; 1 second in world ; 3 third best of show ; he has a
lot more awards.
Ron also has arthritis which is a disease that effects the joints.
Arthritis, from the Greek Artro- which means joints,
is where immune cells actually attack the membrane surrounding the joints.
Arthritis dates back to 4500 BC. Arthritis is usually caused by
trauma to the joint or old age. Ron has arthritis in his wrists and
knuckles, yet he still carves.
His family includes his 28 year old daughter named Christine who
is a game programmer ( she is also my cousin) and his wife Susan,
my aunt, and well, my family.
Ron inspires me, he has arthritis yet he still carves. His carvings
are absolutely beautiful. Ron is the best uncle I could ever ask for.
“Art, like mortality, consist of draw the line somewhere.”-
G.K. Chesterton