First woodcarving circa 2015.

Then a lot of time spent like this.

Later on...

Justin Sechrest grew up in New Britain Connecticut. At 19 he began working at a sporting shotgun factory, where he was introduced to woodcarving by Ron Buck. Ron was one of the scroll engravers for the high-end sporting shotguns the company made. From this point of introduction, Justin was drawn to further explore the medium. He found a teacher in Dimitrios Klitsas, a master woodcarver from Greece, living in Hampden, Massachusetts. Justin enjoyed spending almost every Saturday morning for about a year carving with Dimitri in his studio, eating muffin tops from the bakery Dimitris' wife worked in. After Justin stopped going to Dimitri, he spent the next 10 years coming and going from carving with varying degrees of immersion, exploring it in his own way. Justin is inspired by trees and flowers and loves to fall into his carvings.