Meet Arthur Capozzi

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Arthur Capozzi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Arthur , so happy to have you on the platform and I think our readers are in for a treat because you’ve got such an interesting story and so much insight and wisdom. So, let’s start with a topic that is relevant to everyone, regardless of industry etc. What do you do for self-care and how has it impacted you?

Self care is a very important aspect that directly impacts my everyday life in many ways and being an artist has greatly influenced how I care for myself.
I believe to operate at my best happens better when i am feeling at my best. This learning has indirectly arrived within me from ignoring my own natural rhythms in the past and suffering great consequences as a result of it.

My work requires a strong and focused mental attention when I’m physically working with specific tools in a sense where a wavering attention can be the result of a major and harmful accident as well as a less than perfect sculpture I happen to be working on.

Balance is crucial for optimum growth and awareness I believe. Balance of the doing and non doing. Often times a simple nap is all I need to “reset” myself when I may be feeling a little off, uninspired or just not motivated or creative. Sometimes it’s something stronger like a powerful hot yoga class. There is a switch that happens within me when I give myself permission to let go and be still and do whatever it is I’m needing. This is all a direct result of “knowing thyself” and being aware at every moment of what I am feeling so that I can either continue the doing, do nothing or simply do something else and wait for my focus, enthusiasm or creativity to return. When I let go and follow this approach everything seems to seamlessly flow together for me both in my art work and in life in general

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I started my woodworking career when I first moved out to San Diego in 2001 where I took up woodworking classes at Palomar San Marcos college and apprenticed as a cabinet and chess board maker at a local wood shop in downtown San Diego.

Being new to the southwest I was completely enamored with this beautiful local tree called Manzanita that I saw growing in the mountains where I would often hike and camp. It was literally love at first site and i new in an instant that i had to work with this wood. It’s natural free flowing shapes and Abstract beauty were like nothing I’ve ever seen before. However, a California federal law prohibited the cutting down of this tree. Deep down I knew I would get to craft with it one day.

In August if 2003 I had moved to this high desert 20 acre mountain property that backed up to the Cleveland National Forest. Three months later I would get burned out in the 2003 Cedar Fire. I lost everything I owned. But because of the fires intensity and speed that the high winds moved it, along with the density of the Manzanita, there was still dead standing burned wood all throughout the mountains. As home owners cut down the dead trees I saw my opportunity and collected up.burned Manzanita trees as much as I could.

At the time I was encouraged by many people including woodworkers that this burnt wood was good for nothing other than the wood stove.

At the time there were also no books or teachings that I could find to instruct me as to how to craft with this wood and create the live edge wood creations that my soul desired to make. So I followed the natural growth patterns of the Manzanita itself and learned as I went along.

Since the inception of my art business I have made custom wood guitar stands that have garnered awards at the Del Mar Fairgrounds Design in Wood exhibit, Manzanita Phoenix feathers that have been purchased by the local Kumeyaay Band of Indians at Viejas Indian reservation for their tribal elders retiring on their special council, wood tree sculptures that have also been sold around the world and many other unique creations that I have made and continue to make.

This wood and I share a history together that I am forever grateful for.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Looking back at my journey as an artist I attribute some qualities that have enabled me to succeed in ways I never would’ve thought possible.

First, I feel that having a strong desire or knowing that this is what feels right and what passionately draws me in and holds my attention so much so that it’s all I want to do.

Second, when I finally arrived at the knowing that I wanted to make live edge wood creations with my chosen medium it served me best to see what others were creating and then make every effort to be different from what anyone else was doing.

And last, do it well! Whatever it is I decide to do I am committed to being and doing the best I can with what I have available.

These are essential ingredients to not just being successful but being happy and feeling that I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

I have found memories of being very creative as a child in many ways. One of the things I used to love doing was rummaging through the dumpsters in my appartment complex neighborhood and pulling out parts from discarded televisions and stereos and soldering the parts together making robots, spaceships and all sorts of odd creations. I was a huge Star Wars fan and loved making my own ships, creatures and cities from these electronic components I would gather.

My parents always allowed me to store my bags of parts in our tiny appartment and work with a soldering gun and have a free run to make whatever inspired me. I have a very fond memory of a cigar box filled with metal and electronic parts they gave me one year. I was so excited and they were so humored at how excited I was with a box of junk.
I made some great peices with it. But this always stuck with me as it allowed me to completely express what excited me even if it made no sense to them.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.capozziartworks.com/
• Instagram: Capozziartworks@instagram
• Facebook: Capozziartworks
• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/capozziartworks

Image Credits

Various art pieces of mine ….and me!