The reverence the object maker has for the materials, for the shape, and for the miracle of his skill transcend to God, the Master Craftsman, the Creator of all things, who uses us, our hands, as his tools to make these beautiful object.

Sam Maloof, Master Woodworker

Phil Holtan grew up in the woods along the Winnebago River, north of Forest City, Iowa, one of 8 children of Stan and Ruth Holtan, farmers, weavers and carvers.  He worked with his hands and became a craftsman and woodworker. Now a retired Lutheran pastor, Phil Holtan is an award-winning woodturner often inspired by his Scandinavian heritage.

He believes that his calling is to explore the gifts we have from God and use them for the service of others. For Phil, that means making beauty with wood and making joy, justice and community with other people. From hunting his own burls to selling his bowls, Phil is truly a Man of the Word and a Man of the Wood.

Working with wood is his passion.

• the wood itself, especially in its most humble and distressed forms,

• the energizing burst of a new idea and the painstaking pace of problem solving,

• the challenge of mastering tools to bring into being what I had only imagined,

• the community formed of loggers and clients and fellow turners, And when all goes well,

• the serendipitous harmony of color and curve, touch and translucence.

For Phil, turning a bowl is an act of both faith and imagination. Some artists use wood as a mute vehicle for their vision.  He aims to be a partner, to work with the wood to show off its beauty and tell a story. Often those stories reflect his Norwegian tradition and its deep reverence for wood. 

In his callings both as a pastor and an artist, he is reminded that God doesn't work with perfect materials either. He trusts that in this distressed and unlikely wood, burled, decayed, worm eaten, twisted, bird-pecked, in this least likely looking material, most of all, there is the promise of beauty.

For 45 years, he has been a part of thousands of woodturners’ journeys in helping to deepen their craft, often for the very first time. It’s one of his favourite things about woodturning - sharing his love and vocation with others.