Woodcrafter Schad experiments with culture and conspiracies through art

Starting by going to state fairs on a motorcycle with a makeshift crate to hold his art while on the road, Leroy Schad has made many artworks throughout his life.

Schad began his art journey 40 years ago with a technique called wood burning. Wood burning is when an artwork is transferred through a stencil or pattern or freehanded onto a piece of wood using a heated object.

Wood burning is similar to scroll saw art which is what Schad mainly does now. The process of scroll sawing begins with using a scroll saw which can be found at various hardware stores.

Next in the process, Schad takes his wood piece and a pattern that he finds interesting. Schad said that inside his house he has patterns that go all the way up to his knee that are all different categories of art. With these patterns and being able to make art from a reference picture, Schad says he can cover just about any subject.

After spraying the pattern and transferring it to the wood, Schad then drills a pilot hole which is his starting off point. He said that these pilot holes can take him an hour to do, depending on the pattern or the width of the wood.

When the first hole is done, Schad then continues to create other holes throughout the wood to make the art seem like it is popping out of the wood.

“I enjoy learning how to do it,” Schad said about the process.

Schad has been making scroll saw art pieces for around 25-30 years. His artwork now focuses mainly on indigenous culture, aliens, animals, religion and more.

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