After 30 years in agricultural finance, law and business, I felt an irresistible call to do something very different with the second half of my life.  Building custom furniture for clients seemed a natural fit.
I had actually begun my journey into building traditionally joined solid wood furniture while in law school in the late 1970′s.  I enrolled in an adult-ed woodworking course at the local high school as a break from the pressure of law classes.  That lit a fire that has not dimmed and I have been hand crafting furniture for my family and friends ever since.
My early inspiration came from the elegantly simple and flawlessly executed work of the 18th and 19th century Shaker communities.  That led to an appreciation for the spare but fluid lines of antique Japanese and Chinese court furniture and the exposed joinery and natural wood surfaces of English and American Arts & Crafts furniture from the late 19th and early 20th century.
Over the years I’ve tackled ever more technically challenging pieces modeled after the work of others.  Although all creative work is to some degree derivative,  I have now developed my own style and embarked on my own original designs.
I work almost exclusively in native North American wood species and I begin each new project with a commitment to the highest level of craftsmanship.  Machines can do the rough shaping but can’t duplicate the human quality, the subtle “fingerprints” of the artisan.  For that reason, I employ traditional hand tools in shaping every piece to create a fit and finish that will always say, “hand built.”