The portfolio shows what I make. This page shows why.
Three true stories. In each one, wood that was about to be lost became something a family reaches for every day.
Katie’s bridal shower gift
A storm brought down the holly tree outside Katie’s first apartment in Manayunk, the one she shared with Tyler. Most people would have watched it go into the chipper. Her mother Jan arranged for some of the wood to come to my workshop instead, because she remembered me saying how beautiful holly could be.
Holly takes a very long time to grow and finishes almost white, with a grain unlike anything else. It was given to Katie at her bridal shower, and she knew straight away where the wood had come from. She calls it a family heirloom. This is probably the best example of what this work is for.
See this piece in the portfolio →
The campsite wedding rings
My daughter asked me to make wedding rings for two of her friends. They were marrying at a campground in Virginia the groom had been going to with his family since he was small, and what came back from it was two pieces of firewood, aged just enough to work with.
The groom’s ring is white oak. The bride’s, which is tiny and was the harder of the two, is black cherry. There was just enough left over for a small box to hold them until the ceremony, made from both woods together because there was not enough of either one on its own.
Wood is not an engineered material, so it has defects. To end up with two rings you make a good many. The wood is cut into strips thinner than a millimetre and steamed, then wrapped while still hot around something close to the finished size. Once dry the pieces are glued and shaped on the lathe, and those thin laminated layers are what make the ring strong.
See this piece in the portfolio →
Beth’s tea box
Inherited hardwood furniture is the classic problem this work solves: a piece from a loved one that you can’t really use, but can’t get rid of, because of who it belonged to.
When my wife’s grandmother died, a dresser came to her from the estate. There was no room for it and it was in no state to use, but she could not bring herself to let it go. Its cherry drawers, made a great deal better than furniture is made now, became the dividers inside this tea box. She did not have to throw away a memory to get her space back, and it gets opened every day.
See this piece in the portfolio →
Barb and Jill’s floorboard tray
Barb and Jill had just put a hickory floor into their house. A mutual friend asked whether the offcuts could become a belated housewarming gift, and this is what came back. Hickory is a very dense wood to work, but the grain is worth the trouble.
It doesn’t need to be furniture, and it doesn’t need to be salvage. A big English walnut that came down in Rob and Donna’s yard became a turned bowl that went back to them as a thank you for the wood. If it means something, it can carry that meaning into its next life.
See this piece in the portfolio →“ You transformed a tree log into something meaningful and lasting. It carries a story, and your artistic talent brought that story to life. ”Jan, whose daughter was given the holly box at her bridal shower
Let’s turn it into something you’ll use.
Send a few photos and the story behind it. I’ll tell you what it could become, and what it costs.