As a young child I can remember being interested in wood working, perhaps because my dad was always building something outside or perhaps because my mom was always fixing something in the house. For Christmas one year I received a Mattel scroll saw set. As I remember, it was able to cut balsa wood and not little fingers. It included a drill press and a few other attachments. It is probably in my parents’ basement, stuffed somewhere under years of my parents’ savings. I received many gifts like this, tools and other equipment for children that gave them the chance to build and create using wood, clay, and other nonharmful materials. This must have been my beginning into working with organic construction materials.

In 1975, one year after graduating from high school, I decided to try to sell my photography and crafts. I traveled to many outside craft and art shows in an effort to start this as a career. I remember building close to 50 mirrors, each with a unique look. Some were designed as crosses, some were simple circles, and some even had small shelves to place candles on. I still have one of these mirrors. I ended up putting them in a craft store under consignment. Years passed and I lost track of their whereabouts. I moved on to other things. I pursued photography as a career and went to study at Rochester Institute of Technology.

I never thought I would return to making furniture. I do know it felt natural and that I was comfortable with the materials like wood, glass, stone, and other organic materials. I have a great interest in making things that are both practical and beautiful. Making furniture feels more utilitarian than creative, although I know there is a balance between utility and creativity. I wonder if furniture can be seen as art. It can be called "high craft" in order to distinguish it from simple crafts in which patterns are followed and creativity is not infused. For the same reason, painting by numbers cannot be considered fine art.

The construction process itself plays a large part in each of my projects’ designs. After I draw the basic design on paper, the construction takes place. The original design can change at this point, depending on the project’s intended use. The right tools can also make or break the success of a project as it is being built. I like to construct my furniture using joining biscuits and no nails or screws if that is possible. You can always see a filled-in nail hole in the end product, so I like to avoid that look because I think that it takes away from the beauty of the piece. This is not always possible, but I do my best to put the furniture together this way, or to at least to hide the screws or nails by adding them underneath or from the back since they may be needed for greater support.

Below are several thumbnails showing the work. Click on the image to read more about the creation process and to see larger images.