Arts and Crafts

On The Bench

Posted at May 28, 2008 11:53

By Stefani Kronk

WHEN A COMMITTEE was interviewing candidates
to design a sanctuary, Martin Ratermann
was asked where he received his formal education.
He paused and replied, “At the workbench.”
Martin is a highly skilled artisan, designing
and creating what he terms “bench-made
furniture”—handmade, heirloom pieces instilled
with artists’ ideals and old-world craftsmanship.

“I take the old skills and do something new
and creative,” Martin says. “You learn every day
standing at that workbench and doing it again
and again and again. It’s that repetition of doing it
over and over that makes you skilled.”

Martin is a fourth-generation woodworker. His
great-grandfather emigrated from Germany as a
cabinetmaker and settled in the St. Louis area. In
addition to the woodworking skills, Martin inherited
his work ethic.

“I grew up knowing what work was,” Martin
says. “Growing up on a farm, there was always
some type of woodworking to be done.” Martin’s
education continued at Columbia, where he made
replacement doors and windows for the older
buildings on the University of Missouri campus.

“I have done carpentry in a lot of different
ways,” Martin says. “My interest has
always been in woodworking. I’ve done bars,
churches, banks, kitchens, gun cabinets, and
entertainment centers. I’ve done the ‘works’ in
the woodworking business.”

In his shop just west of Rocheport, Martin
uses a variety of woods to create his one-of-a
kind furniture. He has worked with many exotic
varieties but has discovered that some of the finest
hardwood grows in Missouri. “Walnut is the
premium, premier wood for me,” Martin says. “It’s
beautiful, stable, and good to work with.”

For the past fifteen years, Martin has placed
special focus on designing pieces for churches and
places of worship throughout the United States. He
has made doors, altar pieces, music stands, lecterns,
tables, chairs, and candle stands. His reputation
traveled by word of mouth, and he received commissions
to create pieces for approximately twelve
churches. Although there were many rewarding
aspects of that work, he found collaborating
with committees challenging. For future projects,
Martin plans to work with individual clients.

Although he describes his work as “traditional,”
Martin’s pieces have movement and fluidity.
The environment influences his expression.
“Curves that you see in nature, you see in my
work,” he says. “Trees, limbs, flowers, they curve
and have some flow.”

Creativity is a hallmark of his art. He describes
the risk and reward with creating one-of-a-kind
pieces: “I have this vision of what I want. But you
are always asking yourself, ‘Am I going to fall
short?’ You say, ‘okay, here is what I envision,’ and
I tell people that if you take a risk, you might get
a masterpiece. If you don’t, you’re just going to get
the same old thing. So let’s try it.”

During the hours spent creating a piece,
Martin infuses the human factor into his work.
It becomes personalized and energized with the
artist’s spirit and creative signature imbued in the
wood. “I think there is a fundamental need for
people to touch something that is made by hand,”
Martin says. “And I think people on a day-to-day
basis don’t realize that we are missing that.” By
handcrafting everyday items, Martin ensures that
the timeless connection and unspoken communication
between maker and user continues.

Visit www.martinratermann.com or call 573-
698-2192 for more information.

December 2007

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