Deer Run Studio

The things I make are constructed with traditional woodworking joinery and carefully selected woods. Cherry, walnut, maple, sassafrass and other trees grow in abundance in my area.  A small saw mill, a half a mile from my studio, saws the logs into planks and dries the wood. I am often able to acquire a good portion of a log of cherry or maple which has been sawed into boards. This allows me to create something from the same tree that has the grain of the wood being directly related in color and patterns. The result is, I hope, a pleasing piece of furniture. The attitude of my cabinetmaking is influenced by the work of James Krenov, a highly respected craftsman and teacher whom Ive met at the College of the Redwoods in FT. Bragg, California. I try to make things with a simplicity of form and with longivity in mind. The cases above average 55" in hieght 12" wide and 10" in depth

Each cabinet evolves one at a time. The proportions and dimensions of the piece depend upon the planks of wood that I have and how they relate to each other. Basically I want to make things that I like. I want to feel good about the work. A piece of my soul is attached to each.

The cabinet above: $2500

Above is the interior of the cabinet displayed to the left. It shows tradition joinery in the drawers and at the edge of the opened door. Notice the slight convexity of the case side. This was hand planed. The curve follows down into the stand which is assembled with mortise and tenon joinery. Each leg is slightly wider at the base, tapering upwards to meet that curve. In these cabinets, the door with its panel comes first. I build the cabinet to those proportions. No two panels in this spalted wood could ever possibly be the same, giving each piece a life of its own and its owner their own interpetation of what they see in this painting created by nature. I simply crop and frame the image I find within in the raw planks.