STORY BY KATHY ANDREWS
PHOTOS BY ADELE HODDE

Derek Winstanley created "Cherokee Brave" in 1989 from pink alabaster. The duality of Winstanley's life as a scientist and artist is conveyed artistically through the asymmetrical image.

Scientists look at the world with inquisitive minds, pondering the known, seeking the new and formulating fresh ideas. Artists express their views and personality through their creations. It is rare for these two worlds to merge, but when they do, magic happens.

"I approach my artwork the same as my scientific studies—I conduct research, then look for creative ways to express new ideas," remarked Derek Winstanley. "Both art and science are a reflection of the natural world."

Winstanley, chief of the Illinois State Water Survey, was trained in climatology, a career that took him from England to the Middle East, Africa, Canada, Colorado and Washington, D.C. before accepting his current appointment in Illinois in 1997. His areas of expertise include climatology, air quality, entomology and water resources, and he currently chairs the Illinois Global Change Work Group, a team evaluating state policy options on climate change.

With no formal art training, Winstanley's interest in art started with a need for furniture while living in London.

"I started by building simple projects, like bookshelves, and discovered that I had a talent for taking a carving knife to scrap lumber," Winstanley said. His furniture creations include dining tables, sideboards, end tables and lamps, many constructed without nails or screws.

Winstanley's art reflects the landscapes, people and animals around him.

For example, he was raised in Wigan, England, midway between Manchester and Liverpool. The influence of the coal mining industry is apparent in his art.

"Half 'n Half," a bust carving with realistic facial features on one side and abstract features on the other, is crafted of ironstone and reflects the duality of the scientist and artist.

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Derek Winstanley created the "Evolution" series in 1977 while In Canada to express a scientific concept through art. The series includes (top to bottom) "Single Cell," "Splitting of the Cell," "Embryonic Form" and "Birth," all in black walnut, and "Man" carved from cedar. 14

"Arizona," one of several wood collages created in the American southwest, typifies the artist's use of different woods and natural products.

"Ironstone, a waste from the coal mining process, is like an onion," Winstanley remarked. "The outer bands exfoliate, leaving a hard core."

Winstanley researched the relationship between desert locust outbreaks and climate change while working for the British government in East Africa and the Middle East. Artwork created as a result of this assignment includes "Native Victory," a dark mahogany eagle perched atop three shields, representing the pride and power of the native people.

While on assignment in Canada, Winstanley turned a cedar log into "Eager Beaver." The influence of the Eskimo culture is evident in the carving.

"I find a diversity of techniques a challenge and often explore new media," Winstanley stated. While relaxing on a beach in Maine, he applied the carving knife and paintbrush to a block of wood, transforming it into a beautiful grosbeak.

Winstanley is known for the simplicity of his designs. He often incorporates natural features of the wood—bark, sapwood, knots and holes—into his art. In "Over the Hill," a knot was transformed into the eye of the roadrunner, and a natural cavity became the eye of the pursing coyote.

Many of Winstanley's compositions are practical, functional pieces for the home, and he has an eye for recycling treasures into artistic pieces. Putting his imagination to the test, Winstanley turned a cypress knee, a pulley system from a barn and a combination of ebony, rosewood, bloodwood, cedar and olivewood into a functional and artistic planter he dubbed "Rooster."

Derek and Betty Winstanley and Pep are surrounded by functional and expressive compositions.

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The artist finds beauty and images in all wood—even this diseased maple with blackened rings caused by fungus.

Winstanley took advantage of a two-week furlough from federal government to create "Furlough" to satisfy his wife's longing for a rocking horse.

Winstanley's wood supply comes from a variety of sources—friends, computer searches, storm-damaged trees salvaged from the neighborhood, small lumber mills in central Illinois and even the city dump. Never one to casually take a log for granted, even his annual supply of firewood gets a careful once over before hitting the fireplace.

Setting wood aside to cure for three months to three years allows Winstanley time to ponder its future.

"I spend my dry spells thinking about a piece of wood," he said. "One day I'll attack it, and the product comes out fast. If I don't give it time to evolve mentally, and don't feel good about my idea, I'll spoil the wood and ruin it."

A chainsaw is used to rough out large pieces, followed by hours of handwork with rasps, chisels, sandpaper and a lot of elbow grease. When designing a piece, Winstanley takes into account the natural colors of the wood, highlighting his art with only a finishing of wax or polyurethane.

Never one to sit idle, Winstanley spent a two-week furlough while working for the federal government in Washington, D.C. constructing a rocking horse for his wife. His final product incorporated a variety of woods—a single black walnut log for the body, black walnut for the rockers, layers of cherry to create musculature of the legs, pine recycled from a table for the head, maple for the cheeks, buckeye for the nose, pecan for the ears and black walnut for the eyes. Topped off with a child's saddle and real horsehair mane and tail, "Furlough" is the rocking horse his wife never had as a child. It's also the envy of their grandchildren.

Although his art has been exhibited in galleries in Maryland and Washington, D.C., Winstanley's motivation is simple—the satisfaction he receives from Grafting a memento that signifies a place, its people and its natural resources.

Natural bark provides a feathered texture on the nearly 5-foot bald eagle sculpture that soars above the artist's fireplace. The white head and tail feathers are American holly.

Likened to the childhood cartoon series, the coyote continues to chase the roadrunner "Over the Hill."

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