Ray has been working with wood for over forty years.  Initially, Muniak was “inspired by my father working with wood and the wonderful aroma of fresh- cut pine.”  Later, in high school, Ray followed a wood pattern-making curriculum and then continued with a five-year apprenticeship at Cleveland Standard Pattern and as a result he says  “give me a drawing and some wood and I can make anything”.

            I n 1981 Ray started making wood pictures as a hobby, using the natural colors of wood.  In 1988 Ray was let go from his job and decided to become a full time artist. He displayed his work at a kiosk at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, where he found that he could hardly keep up with the demand for his pieces. Deciding to move to the rural area of Hinckley allowed Ray to create his artwork from home and construct a personal gallery in which annual open houses could be held. In addition, Ray has been involved with over thirty exhibits and gallery shows, including eleven years at the Yankee Peddler Festival in Canal Fulton, Ohio, where he was recently named 2001 “Artist Craftsman of the Year.”

In 1999 Alan Gallery owner Alan Boesger asked Ray to make some small abstract sculptural pieces for a client. Finding this form of art pleasing, and using Alan and his wife Dottie as his mentors, Ray developed this new genre  “environmental debris sculpture”. In four years Ray has shown and sold work at the Smithsonion and at prestigious galleries locally and in southern Florida. When asked about his creative process, Ray states, “each piece of cast-off wood has within itself a hidden form that I am at first unaware of. As I work the piece and remove the decayed areas, it speaks to me, guiding me in different directions. The focus of my art is to create objects of beauty that are both calming and mentally titillating.” 

Artist Statement 

       For as long as I can remember wood has been a large part of my life. Inspired as a child by my father working with wood, the wonderful aroma of fresh cut pine, or simply lying under a tree, this material compels me to create objects of beauty from it..

       Each piece of cast-off wood has within itself a hidden form that I am at first unaware of. As I work the piece and remove the decayed areas, it speaks to me, guiding me in different directions.  Doubts form in my mind but eventually the story of the piece suddenly appears. The next stage is to connect all the holes, valleys, and edges with flowing lines all the while trying to stretch the edge of the woods capabilities. At this point the piece has told me its story and I now augment it with conical holes and spheres. They represent a life force, a spirituality, or mankind. The object is then meticulously sanded then finished with hand rubbed oils. Presentation, almost as important as the piece itself, allows me to add to the story.