About
Experience & practice
Almost fifty years ago I took a woodworking class at my middle school. I have clear recollection of the sounds and smells I encountered as I walked in:
spicy mahogany and oak, loud dust-collection fans, and large machinery running.
I recall being very happy. I presented a complex, scaled drawing of a floor lamp to the teacher and told him I wanted to build it. I was ten years old.
The teacher looked at my drawing for a few minutes, then looked up at me and slowly smiled. A very big smile. And wordlessly he led me over to the lumber racks to select my wood. He and I spent the next school year building that lamp and, in the process, sealing my fate as a lifelong woodworker.
Such a gift, Mr. Stanley Poppy gave me! I've never wanted to do anything else and never regretted that decision.
I've spent the intervening years in custom woodwork and design; building and remodeling homes, constructing cabinets, crafting boat interiors, designing and creating custom laminated balustrades, building mantels, custom decks and pergolas-just about anything that can be made from wood.
All of this with a view toward returning to furniture.
I still undertake the odd field work, but handcrafted furniture and woodworking is now what I do.
My process is simple. Some work I design and create on my own for spec sale.
For custom work I will meet with you, try to get a sense of what you would like to have done, think on this for a short while, and come back to you with creative options.
Woodwork cannot be rushed. It takes time to do well and thoroughly.
Your children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy what you've asked me to build for you now.
Curiously, I find that my efficiency seems to increase as I get older.
Still, I have a practice of sticking to one project at a time, barring supply delays.
Once I begin your work it will receive my full attention until it is completed.
Along with all of its variance of color, depth and beauty, hidden chatoyance and sometimes surprising and simply glorious finished appearance, each wood has its own peculiar attributes, salient traits and quirks.
To varying degrees, I love all of it. And I love creating with it.
Hopefully, when we're done, you'll feel the same.