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July 2003
The Heart in My Product |
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Infusing my heart |
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Working with wood makes me happy.
That's why I undertook making this my career. I develop intimacy
with a piece as I select the wood, choose its best orientation, then work
the wood using hand tools and low-tech power tools. When a
customer buys my product they take with them not only pieces of wood
beautifully joined but also within each piece a snapshot of the happiness I
felt while creating it.
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A return to roots |
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This Spring offered me a chance to
re-evaluate my work while planning for the coming year. I
found I kept returning to my roots—recalling the reasons I
started down this path, thinking again about pieces I'd enjoyed
making as gifts. I decided to make sure I foster that joy in
my work, making sure it remains my primary motivation.
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I make what I like and I like what I
make |
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The fun I have in producing my work
doesn't start with that intimate moment of selecting the wood.
It comes first with developing a design. I enjoy thinking
through the production process, imagining structural requirements,
testing the esthetic on paper, and finally launching into a
prototype. All this in order to get it just right before
making the production run. In short, I only make it if I like
it.
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The artist's enthusiasm on display |
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My work bears the stamp of an artist's
individual hands-on attention to each piece. No production
line, no laser-cut parts—it's all done by me using hand tools
and simple power tools.
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Ornaments' distinguishing features |
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My ornaments show this care of
attention. They are solid wood, not veneered. There is
no end grain showing on either surface, and the carefully selected
quarter-sawn stock minimizes wood movement. I painstakingly drill
the hole for the string through the side, not the face, of each
ornament so that the string doesn't intrude on the marquetry design.
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Box features, unique and durable |
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My boxes are carefully made with
frame-and-panel construction so they won't warp—the wood is
free to move as nature requires. The decorations aren't
mass-produced but carefully inlaid or carved for each box.
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Upcoming products |
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So what will I be bringing to the
market next? I've been playing with triangles and finding some
wonderful ways of drawing out an inlaid pattern through a set of
nesting boxes. Look for new styles of ring boxes using these
techniques. I'll be doing a very limited run of inlaid jewelry
boxes and I'll try some small frames. On the more playful
side, I'll be carving simple scenes or motifs on small panels
for wall-display and carving whimsical lids atop tiny boxes.
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Tying it all together |
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What are the common themes that run
through my work and inform these product ideas? Playful,
miniature, inventive. I like what I make and I make what I
like!
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Next newsletter |
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I'll post photos of these items in
future newsletters, along with a tour of my workshop and discussion
of some of my techniques. |
