Meet Artisan Market Artist Larry Cook!

Larry Cook is a retired electronic technician, self-taught wood craftsman, and all-around handy guy. Over a 15-year period he earned numerous first place, and two Best of Show ribbons for woodworking at the Iowa State Fair. His unusual small table won Best of Show at the 2001 Greater Des Moines Exhibited Art Show. Larry and his wife Trish moved from Central Iowa to the De Soto, Wisconsin, area in 2019.

Larry’s Process!

Featured at Viva's Artisan Market are affordable tiny boxes; properly made from tough hardwoods, with brass pin hinges and a clear oil / paste wax finish. These boxes can hold coins, rings, baby teeth, gold nuggets, etc. There are two types of boxes shown. Jewelry boxes meant for small items, most with interior sliding trays, and boxes with larger partitions for those things that men often keep in their pockets. None of the boxes use store bought hinges, relying instead on brass pins as pivot points, which enable greater precision. Local and sustainable Central American hardwoods are used, with attention paid towards proper construction and mechanically sound glue joints. The bottoms are pressed hardboard, covered inside with felt. All are finished with clear Danish oil followed by paste wax. No two of these large boxes are similar, being built one at a time, with their dimensions often dictated by the wood available.