Mr. Salter has worked all his life in either construction or building maintenance. After high school he went to work as a painter for approximately 10 years. He gradually started doing carpentry work and eventually doing finish carpentry and home remodeling. In 1980 he went to work for the federal government as a carpenter and is now employed at the Camp Pendleton Base Brig as Carpentry Supervisor teaching the inmates basic carpentry skills.

In early 2004 Mr. Salter decided to try another method of artistic expression and took up the art of woodturning. Since that time he has developed his skills by creating large piles of wood chips, as well as learning to make boxes, Christmas ornaments, pens, bowls and various other wooden art forms. Many of these pieces are taken from trees that he has cut down or has helped others cut down.

If you have a tree that has been “in the family” for years or even generations and needs to be cut down Mr. Salter will be glad to help you find ways of turning parts of that into “heirlooms” or mementoes to share with your family and friends. He recently made a Christmas tree ornament and several bowls from a living Christmas tree that a family had planted over 25 years ago. The tree had become a danger and needed to be removed but they now have something to remember it by.

Mr. Salter has attended classes taught by professional wood turners and wood artists from Europe as well as the United States. He is also an active member of the American Association of Woodturners as well as the Newsletter Editor and website manager for the San Diego Wood Turners group.