My Philosophy

My philosophy is simple. My clients get a clear alternative to expensive antiques or dull, machine-made copies. By purchasing a piece of furniture made by my hands, the client is making an investment in an antique of the future.

Handmade work has soul. It has verve; a sparkle that machines cannot reproduce. My life is finite and there is no place in it for shoddy work, as my work is my legacy.

My lifelong love and six-years of formal education in traditional furniture studies and crafting have led to my appreciation and intimate knowledge of the methods that have made traditional furniture last for generations. Each piece I make is crafted for the client--either customizing a replication or creating a whole new piece from their rough sketch or photograph. I relish the challenges that clients bring to me with their requests, taking me out of my comfort zone and asking me to learn more to complete the task.

I am passionate about the intellectual challenge of researching a piece from many years gone by, or sitting at my drafting table and drawing a flowing line that strikes to eye. I love to educate myself in my craft, to educate my clients to realize what quality really means: quality in design, quality in construction, and finally quality in the life that breathes in my finished work.

Furniture is art by coincidence only. Try to make it art on purpose and you end up with something ridiculous. There are a lot of precious object makers out there making furniture that isn’t useful. Although furniture can be art in its own right, if it is too fragile for use then it is not actually furniture. Furniture must be useful--pretty, graceful and well proportioned, but useful above all.

I make furniture that is useful, exquisite to look at and well-made. Those who have mentored me in my studies have ingrained in me the proven construction and designs that have made Chippendale, Queen Anne, Hepplewhite, Sheraton and the like stand the test of centuries.

What a machine does by noisy brute force, I do with quiet cunning. Machines aid quantity, not quality. I have to admit that to be practical and cost effective I use modern machinery. However, machines are present in my shop to perform the tedious preparatory work, my hands do the actual making. My hand skills get the job done to a level of precision that could not be done by a machine.

There is a current social conscience for “green” products. In my estimation, what can be greener than the conscientious use of our trees? The price of timber once seemed to be of little consequence. As we become more aware of the use of our resources, we become less short sighted and see the need to generate products that have longevity of quality and long term style appeal. As a skilled artisan who crafts classics by hand with pride, I hope to help continue to shape an enduring art form, an American legacy that will evoke the great American furniture heritage.

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