Jimmy Carter’s woodworking, painting and poetry reveal an introspective Renaissance Man WSOC TV [Video]

PLAINS, Ga. — (AP) — The world knew Jimmy Carter as a president and humanitarian, but he also was a woodworker, painter and poet, creating a body of artistic work that reflects deeply personal views of the global community — and himself.

His portfolio illuminates his closest relationships, his spartan sensibilities and his place in the evolution of American race relations. And it continues to improve the finances of The Carter Center, his enduring legacy.

Creating art provided “the rare opportunity for privacy” in his otherwise public life, Carter said. “These times of solitude are like being in another very pleasant world.”

‘One of the best gifts of my life’

Mourners at Carter’s hometown funeral will see the altar cross he carved in maple and collection plates he turned on his lathe. Great-grandchildren in the front pews at Maranatha Baptist Church slept as infants in cradles he fashioned.

The former president measured himself a “fairly proficient” craftsman. Chris Bagby, an Atlanta woodworker …