SettledSawdust

I have loved working with wood since my first experience while in high school. More than four decades later, I still love to work with wood and to showcase its natural beauty. My pieces please the eye and invite the touch.  

In our manufactured age, we are accustomed to unnatural wood, to wood that has been processed and packaged and made to look like something that it is not. We have succeeded in making furniture and furnishings as inexpensive as possible, but in the process we have lost touch with what is natural. 

My goal is to use wood to satisfy our need to remain in touch with that which is natural. You won't find reconstituted wood particles here, but solid wood with all of its strength and beauty. Rarely do I employ stains, letting the color of the wood speak for itself. I prefer natural finishes, like shellac and hard wax/oil blends. 

I frequently use hand-powered tools in my shop. Saws, chisels and hand planes give me advantages that machinery lacks. I take the time to become thoroughly familiar with the board with which I am working, reading the patterns in its grain, feeling its texture under my tools, considering where each part of the board will best be suited in the piece that I am making.

Wood that industrial manufacturers consider defective for their purposes, I find the most compelling. Highly figured wood is natural artistry. The form of a piece will work to make a piece functional, but it is the grain, the color and and the figure of the wood that continually surprise the eye.

Monte