Blessed with an innate talent and passion for woodworking that has become intensely personal and almost devout, Rico Carll is as close to understanding the heart and soul of hardwoods as humanly possible.

For 30 years, the New Jersey native who once worked as a wilderness ranger in Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains has quietly gone about creating works of art from slabs of seasoned hardwood, laboring over minute details for months the way a poet will war with the rhythm of words until they have graced the edge of perfection.

Carll - who has spent the last two decades crafting hardwood art décor from one-of-a-kind benches and tables to mirrors and hand-carvings that could double as museum pieces - will spend from 50 to 200 hours on a project in a studio that looks out over his property at his Paradise Valley home.

And sometimes, he says, it's hard to let go and when he knows a piece is finally complete, even if it fetches between $500 and $3,800.

"They become deeply personal," says the 57-year-old Carll, who sells most of his work in Bonners Ferry's Groove Studio. "Sometimes I'll turn off the clock because the goal is to get them as perfect as I can. That's what really matters in all this."

After paying his dues as a carpenter, apprentice furniture maker and yurt builder who traveled to three states to learn the art of woodworking, Carll says it still doesn't come easy.

"The execution is always hard," he says. "I'm still figuring out when it's time call a piece done. Sometimes that's not easy. It's almost like saying goodbye to a friend I have connected with on a special level. I never really turn off my critical eye though lately I'm becoming a bit gentler on myself."

Many of Carll's carvings and other works blend modern art with simplicity. His wall art - which he is primarily focusing on - integrates sculpting a wildlife figure onto a walnut backdrop. Some are so hauntingly life-like they almost appear real.

"Part of my conceptualization is bringing thought-provoking elements in for a sense of aliveness," he says. "The challenge is immense, from carving an owl's claws or creating rolled-over wings. I still war over how much I shave off, and some days I feel I'm battling the wood. I can be very demanding."

For a New Jersey boy with little woodworking background - his father was a certified public accountant - Carll's unlikely journey as an uncompromising wood carver whose pieces explode with artistic elegance has been unfolding since his mid-20s.

After graduating from Colorado State University in the College of Forestry, he developed an artistic eye as a nature photographer patrolling 60,000 acres in the Big Horn Mountains. After the two-year stint, he traded rent for remodeling a cabin near Whitefish, Mont., something he had never done before. There was no electricity so he became skilled with hand tools.

"I started thinking out of the box a little bit and saw my concepts taking shape in wood," recalls Carll. "People acknowledged I might have a special talent. The funny thing is I never really thought I had that kind of ability."

His passion for woodworking grew, and he pursued it, learning from craftsmen from New Mexico to the Ozarks and finally back to Northwest. He eventually married, settled in Boundary County's Paradise Valley, where he built a 2,200-square foot home and a studio.

While his work is both original and strikingly unique, Carll knows making a living as a craftsman in north Idaho is not easy.

"It's a constant uphill battle," he says. "But I make peace with it. I want what I do to matter, and using native hardwoods is important to me because I love the feel and look of this wood. It has a deep hold on me that’s become a driving passion. But that's a pretty good way to feel about going to work every day."

To view Carll's work, go to www.naharawoods.com. He can be reached at 267-3902.