It is difficult to imagine a world without trees! As living organisms they are a dynamic force in nature and a source of unparalleled beauty in their diversity of shape and form. Wood provides us with a material to fashion objects both useful and pleasing to the eye.

Woodworking at northern latitudes is extremely challenging due to the wide fluctuation in relative humidity between summer and winter. This is the most crucial consideration of furniture design and construction when selecting materials and assembling a piece. For this reason, I maintain an extensive inventory of well-seasoned, custom-sawn hardwood and softwood lumber, and I use joinery techniques that will stand the stress of humidity-induced wood movement.

My inventory provides a wide selection of material most appropriate to the construction of fine furniture. I prefer to work with native hardwood such as walnut, cherry, maple, ash and oak. In order to match colour, texture and figure, I feature wide widths, often “book matched” and always sawn from the same log. To create more striking contrasts in my designs, I utilize heavily-figured material such as bird’s-eye or curly maple alongside walnut or cherry.

For the most part, I work alone. My goal is to produce well-proportioned pieces with minimal surface embellishment. Each piece is meticulously hand-finished with multiple coats of oil and varnish to enhance and preserve the natural beauty of the wood. A successful design will provide enduring pleasure to the owners who appreciate artistic expression and careful attention to detail.

I believe a skilled and experienced craftsman in his own workshop working with good tools makes a better product than the industrial mass-produced examples on display at the upscale furniture stores.