ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609160001
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 9 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: WHAT IS ART?
SOURCE: KAREN ADAMS STAFF WRITER
At 55 years old, Bill Seymour still loves toys.
The retired Roanoke executive now spends a good part of his days quietly making small wooden trucks, trains and cars for children.
``To me it's a peaceful task,'' he says. ``It's cathartic.''
His popular little creations - some small enough to fit in the palm of one's hand - are now his business; he runs Wood 'n' Stuff Toys and Whimsies with his wife, Sandra, who paints decorative home accessories.
Seymour's toys are simple, but with no parts to break, rust or fall off, they are both safe and virtually indestructible. Visitors to Blue Ridge Crafters Emporium and area craft shows, where the Seymours sell their wares, can often witness the small vehicles being put to the test.
He tells of three young boys at a show who pooled their money to buy one of his rubber-band race cars. They returned about three hours later and said they were amazed at how well it worked, in spite of their rough treatment.
``They're sturdy,'' he says with a chuckle, ``and they're easy to play with.''
Seymour's interest began with modelmaking when he was a child himself. A self-taught woodworker, he learned from years of careful observation.
His father was a consummate builder who tinkered with all sorts of things, and who built a few houses under the watchful eye of his young son. ``In the eyes of a youngster, you can learn a lot by watching,'' says Seymour.
He once made a free-flight glider with a 10-foot wingspan. ``It flew once, it flew well, and then it died,'' he says good-naturedly, describing how he tossed it from the heights of his high-school stadium. ``It crashed so fast it made my head hurt.''
Despite that short-lived creation, he never lost his affection for making things.
But busy years of corporate life - as manager of Elizabeth Arden's export operations - and raising a son and daughter with Sandra left little time for woodcrafting. About 10 years ago he picked it up again, cutting wooden decorative items for Sandra to paint.
As grandchildren entered the scene, he started making toys.
He fashioned the first few out of scrap wood that he wanted to use up. His three grandkids - now 6, 4 and 2 - continue to inspire his toymaking with requests and praise.
Other children love them, too - so much so that Seymour often makes up to 600 in a week to keep his stock up.
He's reluctant to call his work art, although it does take an aesthetic eye to blend the woods, such as pine, maple, cherry and birch, and to highlight their grains. He likes to think of himself as a craftsman with an appreciative eye.
Even so, if one element of art is durability, then perhaps these toys qualify. After all, ``A pillowcase might look like art to one person and craft to another,'' he says. ``I guess art is in the eye of the beholder.''
Most important, he says, is the work itself rather than what it means. ``My favorite things are the joy in seeing something created, and seeing it put to use.''
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Roger Hart. Toymaker Bill Seymour with some of theby CNBwooden cars, trucks and machines he makes in his basement workshop.
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