Fannin County, Texas -- In recent years, no one has done more to promote the unique properties of local bois d'arc wood than David Keene. Mr. Keene has served as an ambassador of the Bois d'Arc Kingdom by creating writing pens made out of local bois d'arc wood.
Although he grew up in East Texas, David's family visited Fannin County often and he knew from an early age that there was something very different about bois d'arc.
"I have always had an interest in bois d’arc since my first trips to the family 'camp house' near where I live now," recalls David. "I helped my dad repair barbed wire fence, and I could tell right away that an old bois d’arc fence post would have to have the barbed wire re-attached to the post by wire because the bois d’arc posts were too hard to drive a steeple in."
If a hammer strikes the steeple hard enough, a steeple will often go whirring through the air when it ricochets off a gnarly old bois d'arc post that seems as hard as metal.
That camp house of David's youth was built on bois d’arc posts and he still has one of those posts.
"I just knew bois d'arc was 'special'," he says.
David has managed to sing the praises of bois d'arc far and wide by using local wood to create bois d'arc writing pens that have taken up residence from Fannin County to Washington, D.C.
"Every state and national political post winner in Fannin County has one of my pens," David shared. "I have a pen in both the Lake Ralph Hall 'time capsule' and Bois d’Arc Lake time capsule, as well as the time capsule at the rededicated Fannin County Courthouse. My son, John, tells me I will be famous in 100 years!"
In fact, David is already something of a local celebrity, maybe even more for his kindness and generosity than his woodworking skills.
He made pens for all the VIP guests at the rededication ceremony for the 1888 Fannin County Courthouse and 64 pens for the Bois d’Arc Lake VIP list.
"I made 50 pens for the TMOM (Texas Mission of Mercy) dental charity event earlier this year," David says, "so 50 dentists from across Texas returned home with a Fannin County bois d’arc pen."
David has teamed up with District Judge Laurine Blake to make sure that all graduates of the “Getting Ahead” program go home with one of his custom-made pens.
And David is still learning different aspects of working with bois d'arc wood.
"I have developed a technique of cutting and turning the wood in a manner that really shows the grain to its best view," he explains. "The best grain in a pen is turned from a board that has been quarter-sawed. It's not that unusual, but just try to buy that from an exotic wood dealer! They all balk at the quarter-sawed requirement. Where do I get my logs quarter-sawed? Shawn Fulton owns The Nut House Sawmill Creations near Telephone, Texas. He caters to 'special' needs like mine -- large or small. If you want a dining room table sawed from one tree trunk, he can do it. Or as in my case, I haul a single bois d’arc log to him, and he gives me quarter-sawed boards that I then saw into tiny pen blanks. The Nut House name is due to the fact that he also operates the West Pecan Plantation. Shawn is an essential part of my operation."
David has donated pens to the Justice Is Served event for several years.
"That is a good cause and it gives me some idea of what my pens would bring in a retail market," says David. "This past year, I challenged Walter Goodwater to build something with bois d’arc to beat my entry of four pens. He made an old fashioned coffee grinder. We just about tied near $250. I hope we can do it again. Walter is a master wood craftsman and does very good work. I have tried to encourage him to specialize in bois d’arc bluebird houses. He made one for me and it is built like a grand piano -- not your typical birdhouse. Jack Phillips made and gave away many cedar bluebird houses. It would be nice if we could build those out of bois d’arc wood -- they would last a LOT longer."
One intriguing aspect of the work many bois d'arc craftsmen are doing is that they are creating something timeless and beautiful out of wood that is often discarded, something that has virtually no value until an artist's hands go to work on it.
"While I have used old fence posts to make pens for a special Lake Fannin event, almost all of my pens come from trees on my property near Ivanhoe," David says.
