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26 | THE COLONY NEWS | JUNE 2021 | CLUB NEWS By Sylvia Maxwell, 818-667-1766 Keith and Wanda Ryan moved into The Colony in 2008. Keith retired from a life of teaching, counseling and many years as a building contractor. As a hobby, Keith started exploring digital art and enjoys sharing his art creations of people, animals and abstracts with Colony friends on Facebook. In 2009, the Smithsonian National Museum asked Keith to gift them several of his pieces for a new display they were creating. As most of you who know Keith know, he is one of those people who is constantly giving. How lucky for all of us here in The Colony to have such a giving and caring artist who shares his wonderful talent with us. Keith and Wanda love living in The Colony and feel as if they have found paradise. Keith hopes that his art brings smiles and joy to the observer, and he encourages you to enjoy all of the talented Colony artists who bring visual delight to everyone here. Thank you, Keith, for participating in our Artist of the Month for fine art. Artist of the Month By Betty Oehler FEATURING JD SMITH Many of us know JD Smith, though the odds are it doesn't include the craft in his workshop – but it does encompass his brown 1982 El Camino, license plate 82ELCAM, which is a standout wherever he drives. It was his third vehicle restoration, and he spent three years on it, working bumper to bumper, inside and out, engine to tailpipe after buying it from its original owner about ten years ago. After finishing it, he picked up a new hobby, and it's one that has continued in the six years he and his wife, Susie, have lived in the Colony – that of making birdhouses and tables from assorted pieces of wood, lumber and other materials he finds while out and about in Murrieta. Working with wood has been a lifelong pleasure for JD. He began his career framing houses, then worked as a general contractor before attaining journeyman carpenter status. Most weeks, he spends about 15 hours in his workshop, and whether a piece of wood becomes a table or a birdhouse depends entirely on what he's collected. The ideas of what to do with what he's got comes after he begins and as he goes along. A particularly useful piece of equipment is an electric saw that allows him to cut wood into pieces as small as one-half inch. He has constructed tables in various sizes, including two that feature inlaid brass or granite. His collection of birdhouses numbers "about 30," with his favorite still the first one he made, which took a month to finish. Whether table or birdhouse, there is one feature all have in common: somewhere in the wood is branded his "JD" trademark. Your craft secret is now out, JD. Move over, El Camino! Craer's Corner

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