Against the Grain
By Haley France
In the foothills of western North Carolina resides Eddie Hamrick: one of the most renowned woodworkers in the world.
Although his list of achievements and awards appears never-ending, Hamrick has persevered through countless trials.
Coming back from a coma in the middle of career, he re-taught himself the skills of the trade and is now about to begin crafting the interior of his 20th church.
Eddie Hamrick, master woodworker in Hickory, North Carolina, carves out the bottom of a
soon-to-be salad bowl for a 5-star restaurant in New York.
“I have a real gift and that you could tear a page out of a magazine, show me what you want me
to make and I can close my eyes and I can see it and turn it around in my head and then I get
the dimensions in my head and then I build it,” Hamrick said.
After his coma, Eddie Hamrick worked to regain his strength and skills. “I wouldn't take
orders because I was afraid I couldn't fill them because I might get sick again, let people
down,” Hamrick said.
Hamrick said that in his coma “Jesus was walking around and me around a small chapel and
each place we stopped and talked about what that meant with the sacraments and with the
church and the life of the church and what it's supposed to do.” The design of this chapel inspired one of Hamrick’s actual projects that he completed after the coma.
During this rebuilding period in his life, Hamrick also worked in the framing section at Hobby
Lobby. “One of my sculptures can be more than I made a whole year at Hobby Lobby,” Hamrick
said. “Now, I'm able to help and take care of myself better, but there's still challenges, illness, sickness, not being able to get or do what I want at the time I want it, but you have to learn to
face those everyday challenges and overcome.”
![](https://cpjw.unc.edu/2018/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/cache/2018/05/Sarah-1-1/2096474305.jpg "Bruce Beerbower calls himself "Pa Nature" for a reason. He has dedicated
the last 37 years the Catawba Science Museum as their lead naturalist. From West Virginia to Georgia to North Carolina, Bruce speaks for the trees, the plants, and the animals.")
Bruce Beerbower calls himself "Pa Nature" for a reason. He has dedicated
the last 37 years the Catawba Science Museum as their lead naturalist. From West Virginia to Georgia to North Carolina, Bruce speaks for the trees, the plants, and the animals.
Hamrick visits his childhood home and explores his late father’s former workshop, where they
spent countless hours together. “There's always challenges and everything we do in life and it’s
knowing how to face those challenges,” Hamrick said, “and I learned that from my father before
he died. Not to give up, but to strive forward no matter what; it's not that you can't do it, it's you
have to learn how to do it.”
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