Maine news, sports, weather | Kennebec Journal, Augusta, Maine

NEVER THE SAME THING TWICE: Jack Foster turns the old into the new

BY MECHELE COOPER Staff Writer

BELGRADE -- For many people in the prime of life, it's not unusual to think about retirement.

click image to enlarge

Select images available for purchase in the
Maine Today Photo Store

Jack Foster did.

Nine years before he retired in 2007, the special-education teacher in the Messalonskee school district purchased a tiny lot and built a barn-like structure on Route 27 where he wanted to hang up a business shingle.

It would eventually become the home of Craftworks: unique clocks, crafts and antiques.

Foster, 64, said he picked the spot across the street from the Belgrade Elementary School down the road from Hammond Lumber because of its location.

The Belgrade Lakes region is where families flock in the summertime, he said. But also, he said, Route 27 is a major artery for traffic headed to Sugarloaf.

Foster dabbles in junk art and woodworking. His specialty is clocks, but he also builds other things such as benches, wine racks, shelving, clam pots and magazine racks.

"I like variety," Foster said taking a break from hammering nails into a modified post-and-beam shed he plans to use for storage on the other side of the driveway.

"I don't like to do the same things twice. My clocks reflect that. They're all a little different. I use live-edge wood, some have bark on them; and rough sawed boards, which give them their unique shape. I use mostly pine, which I get from local independent sawmills."

Foster, who lives in Sidney, taught in the Messalonskee school district for 26 years. His wife, Jeanne is still in the district, he said, as a third-grade teacher at Williams Elementary School.

Foster said he enjoys hands-on activities and was able to use that approach to teach his students.

He said special needs students learn best if they are actively engaged.

Foster, who earned a bachelor's degree in education from Ohio State University, said he worked various jobs after moving to Maine in 1972, including the Ken-A-Set Activity Center in Waterville.

"That's where I started seeing the needs of these young adults," he said. "They could get a job with a little help, but I thought if I could teach them skills at a younger age, they could get into the community work force rather than shelter work centers. That's how I got started teaching special ed."

The rustic wall clocks he sells range in price from $39 to $175. He also creates theme clocks that include wildlife images and baseball paraphernalia.

"I'll make any theme anybody wants. It's interesting," he said. "You like golf or fishing? I've made some ocean themes with seashells."

His junk art consists of components that have been discarded.

For example, he mounted a California printer's type case -- a wooden tray divided into sections to hold various letters of a typeface -- onto a base of an antique iron wood stove to become a coffee table.

"I put clear Plexiglas over it," he said. "You can keep anything you want in it, any kind of small collectibles. I took an old ringer washing machine base and put a table top on it. It's almost ready to go on the floor.

"I like to take old stuff and make new out of it."

Diana Ammon bought a custom clock from Foster last year for her summer lake house on Great Pond -- "campish"-style clock that hangs in her kitchen.

Ammon, who owns Atlantic Music Production, which books national recording artists for fairs and festivals in New England, purchased another clock this season as a wedding gift.

Originally from Waterville, Ammon is a resident of Newton, N.H.

"The majority of what he does in his shop is repurposed," Ammon said. "With everything going green these days, it's a natural fit. This year, I stopped in again to buy a wedding gift. The bride is very much into going green and repurposed. For example, he took the caps of a Paul Newman juice bottle, which are bright orange an yellow, and used them instead of numbers on the clock. Then in the center he used a plastic coffee lid. It's on this beautiful piece of repurposed wood. I loved everything about it and said "I have to get that Jack." He is recycling. He is repurposing and this day and age that's so important."

Stacy Fox of Mount Vernon said she stopped in one day with her 12-week old puppy and saw Foster's "beautiful work" and asked if he would build a dock at the edge of a water garden on her property.

"Jack's dock he made so reasonable and beautiful," Fox said. "I got the impression he loved the challenge. The dock fits so perfectly. I explained what I wanted and he built this real dock with wing nuts and fasteners for adjustable legs that fit the unevenness of the ledge. We love it!"

Besides his unusual creations that litter the loft and first floor his shop, Foster sells antiques -- a treble sewing machine, tools, a cash register, wooden chairs and vintage furniture. A prize hanging from the ceiling is an old remote control airplane with a six-foot wingspan that is on consignment.

"I'm doing some consignments. I might be doing more next year," he said.

Foster said he is more than happy to send customers to other crafters and antique dealers if he doesn't have what they want. He has a collection of business cards tacked to a bulletin board in his workshop.

Woodwork will always be his most favorite thing. He said it's an inexpensive way to be creative and it's plentiful in Maine.

Plus he likes the smell of pine.

"I think now I'd like to get into metalwork, braising and gas welding artwork," he said. "I want to start with small sculptures. Probably torch welding would be better for me. I can heat it up and bend the metal. I've worked it a little bit. Yeah, I think that's what I want to try next."

Mechele Cooper -- 621-5663

mcooper@centralmaine.com