The Process

Working with a client to produce a custom piece is often something of a dance. One doesn’t just come onto the dance floor and clump around, expecting something that pleases both dancers. A successful dance requires both partners to be attentive to the music, the space in which the dance is to take place, the mood and suppleness of the other, and to the overall goal of creating a piece that combines both partners in a smooth and graceful body of movement. So, too, working together to achieve a piece of fine woodworking that is pleasing to both the person who has to live with the item, and the creator who seeks to realize an item that embodies his best efforts.

When I work with a client, I ask to spend time in the place where the work will live and be used. I try to understand what else in the client’s world is important and moves them towards a life of ease and fulfilment. Attention to the styles of the home, the manner in which the item will be used, colors that work in that space, even how the person will interact with the item.

Once that is absorbed, then come sketches, drawings and finally an agreement on the final look and feel of the work. Once we are both happy with the anticipated outcome are we able to move forward. Even then, the wood and the design may offer moments of discovery that present unanticipated features.

In the end, the piece should fulfill the goals of the owner, yet allow for some surprises. Not all pieces have those moments, but when they occur it can offer an opening to the unexpected that further endears the item to is owner. Such a dance is when the best pieces can be created.

Wood offers opportunities for discovery. It is always presenting moments that bear witness to the vagaries of nature. Grain, color, texture, density all work together to provide challenges and surprises. It is for the woodworker to uncover those surprises and work with them to achieve a singular work of functional fine art.