I am a life-long woodworker currently living in Loveland, Colorado near the entry to Rocky Mountain National Park. I moved to this area in 1978 because of my love of hiking, back-packing and photography. Less than 8 hours will take you to some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet! ... moreI am a life-long woodworker currently living in Loveland, Colorado near the entry to Rocky Mountain National Park. I moved to this area in 1978 because of my love of hiking, back-packing and photography. Less than 8 hours will take you to some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet!
I have been working in wood since I was about 3 years of age. Whether using scrap wood from my grandfather's furniture-making or building and flying free-flight model airplanes with my dad, I have been involved with some form of woodworking and associated hand-skills.
My primary interests are in designing and constructing unique furniture. This includes custom furnishings for law offices, art galleries and individuals. Most of my work involves the use of veneers, marquetry and inlays. I have replicated period furniture to both a historically accurate level of detail and have also created pieces that were an interpreted representation of a furniture period or style.
Over the years I have seen the gradual decline of access to high quality woods and the virtual extinction of species that were somewhat common place during my life. This situation has led to the re-vitalization of the veneer industry around the world. The use of wood veneers in the past has typically been the providence of pharaohs, monarchs and the extremely wealthy. The rise of the industrial revolution changed that image and not for the better. Veneer, which has received an ill deserved reputation as a "material" indicative of "poor quality" in the field of woodworking, has been making a rather impressive come-back in recent years. The resurrection of woodworking as a "fine art" has also inspired the resurgence of the use of veneer as, not only a high-end material, but also an area where a 'high-end" skill is required to work it as a woodworking material.
I was introduced to wood veneers about 30 years ago and have not looked back since then. Currently the most high quality logs (trees) from around the world are purchased and converted into veneers. My work is based upon the use of veneers and it has opened up an infinite world of design and decorative possibilities. I am currently the Question and Answer officer for the American Marquetry Society in the United States.
Since veneer is applied over the top of a surface, strength does not dictate that veneers must have any structural integrity. Burls and other "weak" materials can be applied to substrates that have the strength necessary to withstand the loads expected of them... chairs, conference tables, etc. Veneer is the woodworkers equivalent of acrylics, oils and watercolors to the painter. The substrates that the veneers are applied to is the equivalent to the artists canvas.
The sculpture bases, or tables, that I create are based on a "glue-and-stitch" technique developed in the early 1960's for boat-building, specifically canoes and kayaks. It relies on the use of epoxy resin and fiberglass cloth to create a level of strength well beyond that of the "wooden" components. Analysis has determined that this technique is up to 10 times stronger than traditional woodworking approaches to boat building and also considerably lighter. The technique lends itself to graceful, organic curves without resorting to chainsaws and grinders to remove extraneous material. Once I was introduced to the technique I knew that I had to apply it to creating furniture. Each base is created entirely by hand and veneered so that no two are the same.
less