LANDRUM – Millstone Gallery, a gallery for woodcarvings and art located at 305 E. Rutherford St., is now open for business near downtown Landrum in a white bungalow next to CVS.

Ron Robbins is a semi-retired attorney who owns the gallery with his wife, Kathleen, and said woodcarving became a passion for him thanks to his father. His wife is a part of Tryon Painters and Sculptors.

“I started off doing some whittling after I talked to my dad one time,” Robbins explained. “He had a couple of brothers and sisters who lived in a country house. They had heat in the downstairs, but no heat upstairs in the bedrooms and so the family would congregate in the evenings in a downstairs room. I asked my dad what he would do with all the people in the room and he said he would whittle.”

Robbins said he got enjoyment out of carving a piece of dogwood firewood into a bowl and continued on by doing other things like spoons, horse heads and faces. His father would, when they were out in the woods eating somewhere, pick up a piece of wood and carve it into a utensil if needed.

“I’m semi-retired and was an attorney in Columbia for many years and I lived up here in North Carolina,” Robbins said. “In 2010, I retired from the firm and now I’m still semi-retired and do the law office a couple days a week and the gallery, which is open Wednesdays through Saturdays.”

Experimenting with different types and colors of woods is something Robbins said he enjoys.

“I found the process so rewarding and enjoyable, and I began to carve other pieces,” Robbins said. “A number of people began asking to purchase pieces, which led to Robbins Woodworks. I also mill my own timber for timber framing, lumber for construction and I use selected pieces for woodcarvings.”

Robbins said there is “something primal or genetic that goes back a long way” in cutting wood at the sawmill, seeing the different grains and colors in the wood, and determining how he is going to use it for his next piece.

His favorite woods range from the poplar and dogwood to the sycamore and oak. Back in July last year, he was featured on Studio 62 with Jamarcus Gaston.

“Most of the pieces here are from local wood found on my property or my neighbor’s property because they will have a tree come down that they will need help with,” Robbins said. “There must be something in my family genetics that does it for me.”

The gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Reach Robbins by calling 864-457-2202.