His studio space is small, just a shed in the back yard, but every corner is packed with tools and materials. One wall is lined with shelves of raw lumber, in the center of the room is a table saw and next to that is a planer used to level planks of wood. Everything is blanketed in a layer of saw dust.
But in the very back corner of the shed-turned-studio is a workbench, and mounted on the wall above it is a floating shelf holding about two dozen different hand chisels, used to carve fine details and intricate designs into the wood. It is through this hand-tool woodcarving that Andrew Coleman is keeping an ancient art alive.
Coleman, 32, is a carpenter and woodcarver who specializes in Catholic art. The Baton Rouge native picked up the hobby in his high school shop class and later started his business, Coleman’s Handcrafted, in 2021, turning a passion into his full-time job. He now uses his art as a way to share his beliefs with others…