Photos by Brandon Sullivan Craftsman Ronald Bacher spends many hours in his backyard workshop where he is surrounded by reclaimed wood and numerous tools, plus Western artifacts and other keepsakes.

“Everything I create is limited-edition now, since I just turned 60,” jokes artisan Ronald Bacher. The owner of Old Wood Creations makes shadow boxes, frames, crosses, shelves and mantels, all fashioned from reclaimed wood and featuring mostly Western themes. Many of the pieces pay homage to such icons of the Wild West as John Wayne, Annie Oakley and Wyatt Earp, and incorporate replica guns, ropes, horseshoes and vintage movie posters, among other things.

After falling head over heels in love with his wife, Annette, in Arizona, the self-taught craftsman moved from Chicago to Phoenix in the early 1970s and developed woodworking skills as he remodeled the couple’s first house. “I found that I had a knack for it,” Bacher remarks. The remodeling project led to carpentry work, and eventually he began crafting artifacts as a hobby.

In the late ’80s, Bacher established his own company and became a full-time artisan. Donning cowboy boots and showcasing his decorative frames and shadow boxes, he wowed visitors at arts-and-crafts fairs in Arizona and elsewhere around the country for many years, winning Best in Show at the Litchfield Park Festival of the Arts in 2000 for his Western-themed booth and artwork.

Today, Bacher keeps busy completing commissioned pieces for homeowners, as well as for local stores. He says his main focus is creating one-of-a-kind work and notes, “I try to add something to it that makes it unique and special.” To build a shadow box, for instance, the artisan transforms rough planks of redwood or cedar into a box that he embellishes with rusted nails, polishes with three grades of sandpaper, and hand-rubs with wax for a vintage-looking finish. Next, otherwise plain objects such as postcards or horseshoes become more interesting as Bacher dips them into what he calls his “secret sauce” to add a patina. Then—just as if he is putting together a collage—he finds a perfect spot for the items in the shadow box.