Lumber is a spectacular medium. I believe that to be a great craftsperson, one needs to reveal the beauty within wood. Whether that beauty is the coloration, the grain pattern, or the awesome physical and structural capabilities, it falls to the woodworker to direct a viewer's attention to those aspects.

In addition to revealing the natural beauty of the medium, it is also the responsibility of the craftsperson to accent what is already present, with things such as: scale, joinery, finish, and durability. When that perfect balance is achieved, the results are an outstanding piece.

However, every piece on display here has some flaw in my mind. As the creator, I am never satisfied, always aspiring to build better, push the envelope in my personal design aesthetic and please the owner of each piece. What you see here are merely the fledgling steps of what I hope to be a lifelong journey in the art of revision and improvement.

This is my statement, but I have many influences, from Gustav Stickley, to George Nakashima, to Sam Maloof, to James Krenov who in his old age has begun to lose his sight, continuing on in the craft through touch and memory. It is his simple, yet profound words that inspire me:

I think that what I would like to do before it is too late is to get this across to a few craftsmen-to-be who will work after me, and also to a public which will be there to receive them, because we are living in a time when, I believe, this is important. Fine things in wood are important, not only aesthetically, as oddities or rarities, but because we are becoming aware of the fact that much of our life is spent buying and discarding, and buying again, things that are not good. Some of us long to have at least something, somewhere, which will give us harmony and a sense of durability–I won't say permanence, but durability–things that, through the years, become more and more beautiful, things we can leave to our children. We can enjoy them while we are here, and even if we can't surround ourselves with these things (we can't, of course, and we shouldn't), they should be here for those of us who long for this sort of thing.