New local artist at Masonic Temple

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – There is a new artist at the Masonic Temple and he is hoping to take a new approach on helping people.

Tom Taylor picked up scroll sawing two years ago and decided to rent a room to display his work. He now is taking it one step further and is offering free classes, they are open for anyone but are more focused on teens and veterans.

“I was a wood carver for about 25 years and I bought a little saw for the carving that’s up there for the cross and once I realized what a saw one of these saws could do it kind of spiraled from there and then now I have 11 saws,” Taylor said.

In August, Taylor took a trip to Iowa for a scroll saw contest and when he was at the Freedom Center he was inspired. He saw how much help it could be for veterans with PTSD as well as for teens who want to channel their energy into something therapeutic.

“When I sit at the saw and do this type of work you can’t think of anything else but what you’re doing. Everybody that I know in the scroll saw world, they say the same thing, especially the veterans who struggle a little bit or I worked with a couple of kids who were autistic and it’s like when they sit at the saw, the autism, you can’t see it because they’re so busy,” Taylor said. “So I think it’s very therapeutic in a lot of different ways.”

Classes are at the Masonic Temple in room 310, every Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. He said everyone will start out with the very basics and learn about the different saw blades, how to follow lines and will work into the more complex things as they get more comfortable.