Mock ups

While in school for woodworking at Seattle Central, I had the privilege of taking a fine furniture class from Ross Day. Day studied with James Krenov a celebrated woodworker, author and master craftsman. Day taught me the importance of drawing scale layouts so you can adequately measure the weight and presence of a piece and its components, as well as the scale and proportion for its prospective space.


Working out these details with a pencil saves frustration and needlessly wasted materials. It also allows for a client to truly see the piece in three dimensions which can save time and last minute changes.

A Trip to Oregon

Recently Laura and I took a road trip to Oregon to get some lumber for a current furniture project. We visited a small urban mill called Urban Recycled Hardwoods in Beverton,OR just outside of Portland. Then we traveled south to Albany to see Goby Walnut, a small mill that specializes in Oregon Black Walnut.


Owner Art Blumenkron has an amazing inventory of walnut, with some slabs measuring over 48" wide. They have an impressive amount of veneers and carving stock. He was extremely patient while I made him unstack piles of veneers so I could get exactly what I was looking for.


The commission is for a coffee table an entry table and mirror, and secretary. I selected boards for color and graining specifically for each piece. I was able to get fletch cut (sequenced) boards which makes grain matching easier and makes a more cohesive piece.

I chose these pieces with curly figure for the top of the coffee table.

Shapes

Fall down is the term given to the waste created by milling and joinery. I am always intrigued by these little geometric shapes and hate to throw them out or give them to someone for firewood. Most wood scrap can be re-used,recycled or even composted.


Recently I took some European Beech fall down from a parsons table project and made some geometric collages.


I like the way the shadows change the weight and motion depending on how the light hits them or how you view them.

An Introduction

I started Dogwood Seattle after getting my degree in Boat Building and working in the field for several years doing mostly high-end residential and one-off furnture work.

I was a chef in a former life and decided that I wanted to switch to a more permanent medium than food. I approach every project with care, planning, and my love of woodwork.

My hope is that each piece I make will serve useful and aesthetic purposes in a client's life and estate for years to come.