I have been a professional woodworker for more than twenty-five years.
During that time I have experimented with many kinds of furniture styles and philosophies. I have come to the perception that quality is a result of subtle design and persistent effort. I think my work illustrates this awareness. My work is an example of one man's pursuit of quality.
My work is refined, effortful, and intended to last forever. The forms are intentionally simple and familiar so that people can focus on the function, design details, and craftsmanship.
I take special care to make things that are very functional. I do not subscribe to the thinking that to be beautiful an object can be less functional. To me, an object has to be more functional to be more beautiful. So I add function to my objects. I also refine the experience of the object's intended use.
For example, a small jewelry cabinet with doors and drawers can be made more functional by improving the usefulness of the drawer's interior space with custom dividers that are tailored to the drawer's contents. The way the doors and drawers move is also critically important to the function of the piece. The fit of the doors and drawers, the smoothness of the wooden drawer runners, the way the door latch feels as it closes are important features of my work.
Special design details are crucial to the work's quality. Hand cut dovetails are an illustration of the effortfulness of the work, and subjected to great scrutiny by other craftsmen. Other time consuming design details like flush mount handles, quadrant hinges, and matching the color and grain of the parts of a box are examples of a focus on design details and craftsmanship.
The most often noticed design detail is the finish. I usually use varnish.
For most projects the varnish cures for three weeks. Then it is polished. It cures for another two weeks and is polished again, but smoother. The result is a soft, glowing, amber tinted silkiness that is not apparent in the photos. It has to be seen in person to be appreciated. It does more than any other detail to convey the quality of the work. The finished product is also protected by being stored in custom cloth bags when not on display.
It has taken years to work through the creative process to achieve the quality of the work I make. I am still improving my tools, techniques, and perceptions. The work is evolving into higher levels of refinement and sophistication. It is a slow process with many false starts and failed experiments, but also with progress and improvement. I look forward with hope and gratitude for what I have learned and the people who create the opportunity for me to do this exciting work.