When you meet someone talented and fascinating you know it. That’s how it was when Val Johnson first walked into Crescent Moon. We could tell he was looking for something in particular but didn’t want to interrupt his browsing right away. Then we noticed the cane he had. The carved details left little room for words. When we struck up a conversation with Val we learned that carving a cane that he would need one on his feet again was therapy for him. Bedridden during many months of rehab and physical therapy for a severe knee injury left him lots of time on his hands. For such a young man who was a avid sportsman and hiker those months were difficult. But from that challenge came a talent uncovered.
Each section of the cane represents a significant time in Val’s life he said. Someday we’d love to hear the details. The handle of the cane needed to be completed and Val was specific in his vision for it. A glass marble art piece representing the universe.
Josh Simpson’s large Inhabited Planet was the perfect choice. It fit Val’s palm of his hand and only Josh depicts 
the essence of the universe in his planets, exactly the vision Val had. He has promised to come back and show us the planet fully affixed to the top of his cane. Talking with him, we’ve learned he may start carving more and selling his work. We only have words of encouragement for him.
