Blake Owen
Wooden Folk Toys
When you combine curiosity, enthusiasm, an engineering degree, and a youthful spirit, you can get only one thing -- Alexandria's celebrated folk toy maker, Blake Owen. A visit to Mr. Owen's workshop is like a visit to Santa's shop at the North Pole. At Blake's Sawdust Shop, however, you'll only find a single elf at work, 71-year-old Blake Owen.
Mr. Owen, who fashions traditional wooden toys and whirligigs (decorative weather vanes) from unpainted wood and simple materials such as wire, string, and rubber bands, got into toy making as a hobby. While at a craft show in Arkansas, Owen bought a wooden balance toy. The toy man holds a wooden stick which balances him on his heels or toes. Although he knew the balance act was a simple matter of physics, Owen's engineering background made him curious and he decided to try to make the toy himself.
Successful with the construction of a balance toy, Owen made several to sell at local flea markets. These were such a hit, that Owen was inspired to make some of the simple toys he had made and played with as a boy—hooey sticks (a notched stick with a propeller at one end which, when stroked, causes the prop to turn), rubber band and clothespin switchblade knives, jumping jacks, spool tractors, tops, and more. Almost all of the toys that Owen constructs are patterned on colonial American toys, and some that were made in Europe long before.
The popularity of Owen's wooden toys with children of all ages makes him and his wife frequent festival participants and demonstrators. Owen feels that his toys are so appealing because they are folk toys that the adults, who particularly like the tops and the rolling ducks, remember them from their childhood; children are fascinated by their simplicity and by their ability to do something or to fool someone. A strong motivator for Owen's to pursue his hobby is a desire to see people enjoying themselves. For this reason, all of his toys are placed on tables at kid-level, where they can be touched and picked up and played with by curious "kids."
Many of Blake Owen's toys are puzzle toys which he won't sell without an explanation. This genial toy maker loves to watch an adult or a child play with and try to figure out how a toy works. Mr. Owen watches for a while, but before frustration sets in he offers a simple solution, an "Oh, Yeah! I see," kind of thing. The "idiot stick" (fishhook game), for example, challenges the player to hook a rubber band with a notched dowel. The "T" puzzle is another that keeps the player re-positioning four small pieces of wood in endless variations, until they are finally correctly placed to form the letter T.
Mr. Owen, who has "played" with his toys for the past twenty years, is a member of the Red River Arts and Crafts Guild. He demonstrates and sells his toys at a host of festivals throughout the southern United States. He has the distinction of being asked to show and demonstrate his creations at the New Orleans World's Fair. Additionally, he is included in Alexandria Museum of Art's publication, Doing It Right and Passing It On, as a master craftsman and traditional folk toymaker. Folklife Guide, the official guide to folk art and folk artists in Louisiana, also cites Blake Owen as one of Louisiana's top traditional toymakers; as anyone who knows Blake Owen and his toys will tell you, playing with an Owen toy is like being a kid again!
