- April 25, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
‘I call it therapy.’
Seeing the cork welcome mat, and the cork wreath on the door, you might think the person inside has a hobby.
You’d be right.
Jerry Novotny has been making a variety of useful objects out of wine bottle corks since the 1970s. Through the years, he became more creative and talented, and his condominium is now a showplace. There are wall boards, baskets, end tables, wreaths, frames, clocks and vases in a variety of curving, attractive shapes.
He calls it “functional art,” and for an example, picks up a basket made with corks.
“You could fill this with apples, or wine bottles,” he said.
He’s also proud of the rugs he makes. He said they are not only durable, but walking on a cork rug with bare feet is like getting a foot massage.
It’s been a hobby all these years for Novotny, though he does sell them when he gets too many.
“I call it therapy,” he said. “I make them for me. But if I get too many it looks too fanatic, and I have to sell some of them.”
He has found that his customers tend to be women.
“Men don’t care, but women pick these baskets up and cradle them like a baby,” he said.
He first sold some of his creations back in the 1990s. Working as an intensive care nurse at Halifax Medical Center, he decided to take some of his cork creations to work and leave them in the nurses’ break room.
He sold $2,500 worth of items.
Novotny is now semiretired, and his hobby keeps him busy. Making the cork pieces is not simple; it requires a lot of painstaking work.
For example, to make a rug, he first must place corks in a jig, being sure the rows have all the same length corks. Then, he drills through the corks so can insert the type of string that is used to sew sails. He also pegs the corks together with tooth picks, and lastly, uses super glue.
“That’s a tried and true method,” he said.
He taught himself to make vases using trial and error. Each row of a vase has different quantities and sizes of corks to create a smooth, curving design.
Novotny said he started the hobby one day when he saw a cork board in a laundry mat.
“I thought, ‘I can make that,’” he said.
Later, the cork board he made was lying on the floor and he walked across it. He thought it felt pretty good so he made a rug. Handling the rug, he saw that it would curve, so he decided to try making a vase.
The rest is history.
His collection even includes wind chimes.
“I call them silent chimes,” he said. “They don’t make a sound but they look good in the wind.”
Novotny gets his corks from a company in Canada that collects used corks and then sells them.
“I like the tactile part of working with cork,” he said. “It’s like working with wood. You’re creating something.”
He occasionally gets synthetic corks, which can only be used in the bottom of a piece as a base. He said they can’t be drilled evenly, and glue doesn’t stick to them. He said they don’t feel the same as real cork.
He said he works every day, for varying lengths of time.
“Sometimes you look up at the clock and four hours went by,” he said.
Novotny grew up in Daytona Beach and has lived in Ormond Beach since last fall. He can be reached at 214-6952.
