From Missiles To Muses

This self-taught woodcarver used to design warheads for a living. Now his attention has turned to more tranquil and inspiring projects.

Justin Gordon carves almost anything he can get his hands on: sand, snow, ice and, of course, wood. From an early age, he started whittling “little 3-inch men” out of scrap pieces of lumber and quickly realized he had a knack for it. His passion grew to the point that he wanted to major in art in college, but his very traditional parents steered him toward what they thought was a more practical direction: engineering.

Upon graduation, he landed his first job with a defense company — designing missiles.“Once you’re in that market, you kind of bump around to jobs with other Department of Defense contractors, but it’s all pretty much the same,” Justin explains.