WHITE SALMON — Fire is a familiar foe in the Columbia River Gorge — a devastating, uncompromising force that threatens homes, families and wildlife year in and year out. But for Lloyd DeKay, retired geologist turned wood bowl turning extraordinaire, it presents a unique and affecting artistic opportunity: to find beauty amidst the rubble.
DeKay’s globetrotting journey began in the LA area, where he graduated from California State University, Northridge with a degree in earth sciences. After a slew of temporary gigs across the American West, DeKay returned to school, earning a Master’s Degree in Geological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island.
For the next 27 years, he operated as a geoscientist with Chevron, traveling and temporarily living in places around the world from Houston and the Bay Area to Ireland, Turkey, Bulgaria and Nigeria.
While visiting friends in White Salmon, DeKay and his wife toured a home with a stunning view of Mount Hood and decided they would retire to the Columbia River Gorge. Since 2007, the couple have become leading contributors to the community, establishing the nonprofit Community Partners and the Columbia Gorge Arts and Culture Alliance, working with the Ice Age Flood Institute and Oregon Nordic Club, and participating in countless volunteer efforts.
While not particularly entangled in artistic endeavors for the bulk of his professional life, DeKay thoroughly enjoyed his college pottery course and had always thought about rekindling that interest with something in that vein.
In Jan. 2024, he attended a wood turning course at Gorge MakerSpace and fell in love with the craft. Fast forward to today and DeKay is a committed turner with no intention of slowing down. In his garage workshop, working with a lathe and various shaping tools, he has produced a diverse assortment of wooden bowls, containers, and dishes of various shapes and sizes. “It’s fun for me, it’s relaxing, and it’s interesting,” DeKay said. “When you’re turning a piece, you may come into it with an idea of what it’s going to look like, but really, the pieces themselves dictate the shape. You can’t force something out of it.”
Following the Rowena Fire, which burned over 3,700 acres and destroyed 56 homes, DeKay visited the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and stumbled upon pieces of burnt ponderosa pine. Told they would eventually be trashed, he decided to take them home, turn them into bowls and salvage their beauty — from a charred afterthought to a tragedy memorialized.
In an agreement with the Discovery Center, DeKay will donate his work as auction items in a fundraising event. “The Discovery Center does great things,” DeKay said. “When this opportunity came, I knew I could do something special for them.”
DeKay hopes his work will foster “an appreciation and connection to the Gorge Scenic Area” for all who come across it. “Fire is important here,” DeKay said. “We all need to have some appreciation for fire and realize it can be more than just a horrible thing.”
Moving forward, DeKay will continue to harbor a healthy relationship with the Discovery Center and share his work with the Gorge community. “As long as I can get wood, I’ll be turning bowls,” DeKay said.
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