Wood art, with its organic warmth and beauty, offers a way to connect with nature while enhancing the ambiance in our homes. Here are some benefits of welcoming wood art into your living space.

I make art from wood, and the wood I use is always part of a bigger story.  In a recent blog, I shared why my wife, Sarah, and I are harvesting trees from our property.  The two days spent felling and skidding the trees was a great adventure!

I make art from wood, and the wood I use is always part of a bigger story.  In a recent blog, I shared why my wife, Sarah, and I are harvesting trees from our property.  The two days spent felling and skidding the trees was a great adventure!

When I was nineteen years old, I planted some black walnut trees at the home where I grew up. They were mail-order from Miller Nurseries in Canandaigua, NY. Each sapling was only about eighteen inches tall and the diameter of a pencil. They had no branches but were just sticks with some roots. I planted them because of my growing interest in wood, and I especially respected black walnut. I never imagined I would harvest them for lumber.

The debate about whether artistic talent is inherited (nature) or developed through environment and experience (nurture) has intrigued researchers for years. Here are some things I have observed.

As a kid, I loved going up the too-steep stairs to the big, awesome attic in my house. Among the old family artifacts was a China closet. The door was missing its glass, and its crazed, black finish hid any clue as to what the wood underneath looked like.

The air buzzed with inspiration at the View Arts Center in Old Forge, New York. I was there to showcase my wood sculptures at the opening of the "Art of the Craft" exhibit. This exhibition “showcases artists and craftspeople working in any craft medium whose work exemplifies excellence in craftsmanship, design, and innovative use of the materials.

It all started with polka dots. My daughter Amanda and I had our business up and running making wooden Anniversary Banks. We were always looking for creative new designs, and she suggested that she wanted to make a polka dot bank. In any good brainstorming session, rules one and two are to keep an open mind and not shoot down any idea on the spot. But this was far from anything I had envisioned.

Recently, a friend asked me to make a custom plate for her daughter's wedding gift. It was a privilege for me since her daughter was a student of mine way back in her middle school days. To see her now as a wonderful, thriving adult is just incredible. I've made plates before, but this was a new design based on a glue-up style I have used in other works.

Something is intriguing about optical illusions. One moment, we know something is true because we saw it with our own eyes, and the next moment, we learn that we've been duped! We seem compelled to keep looking and need to reconcile why the visual part of our brain sees one reality and the logical part knows something different.

Our handcrafted wooden banks are far from the piggy bank image that may come to mind! Here's our story.

As you might guess, I enjoy spending time in my wood studio. When I built my woodshop, there were many things to consider.

Using Eco-friendly wood is part of our mission! Most of the lumber I use in my projects has an interesting story. With surprising regularity, I get hold of local trees that have either come down in storms or needed to be taken down for various reasons. Here are some of their stories.