My Story

It's in my DNA.

I was raised in Tennessee in a county built on harvesting timber for the railroad crosstie business. Most of the men in my little town worked with wood in one way or another – sawmillers like my grandfather cut timber, mill workers and farmers used lumber and built barns and wagons. My grandfather or father could walk through the forest and tell you the species of every tree – what lumber that tree produced and how was best used – if it would gum up a saw or burn hot in a winter stove or fireplace. They knew wood – just as their fathers before them had.

SeeAcross.com began simply – I'm an artist (donwoodward.com) and rustic woodworker – it's in my DNA. I love building things with my hands. Especially things that will last for generations. I don't have much use for fancy tools or automation – there is no soul in something you buy online mass produced in China or wherever.

Every cross I build begins with a stock piece of lumber which was once a living thing. I love using reclaimed boards when I can find suitable stock. The thing is these are pieces of art. They are intended to tell the observer something about the owner that is apparent but unstated. A cross on your wall or one you give as a gift says a lot about you – what you value and how you stand and even what you believe. What a cross represents is no small thing.

Who am I? An old man in his waning years of life hoping to bring some joy to you. The crosses I build are meant to be inspirational to you or whoever you gift one to. I build them to have a special place in your home, office or chapel. I build them to be the thing that each one of your family members hopes you leave them. Sights and smells bring back memories. I want my crosses to be a harbinger of good memories.

I make each one as if it were going into my own home. That's the only standard I know how to work to.

Made in Marianna, Florida.

Marianna is a small town in the Florida Panhandle — the kind of place where the only traffic jam is during the Christmas Parade. It's a fitting home for this kind of work.

Every cross that leaves my studio carries a little of that with it — the unhurried pace, the attention to craft, the sense that some things are worth doing slowly and doing well. These simple crosses are made to last a lifetime. What better gift to yourself or others?