Keepsake Box With Peacock Feather Marquetry Turquoise Inlay

"Pure Nard" is an oil that is extracted from a flowering plant that grows in the Himalayas of China, Northern India, and Nepal. Its oil is aromatic and in it's day was very valuable, about a year's working wage. Its history dates back to ancient Egypt and was most notably used in Roman times in anointing. Its significance was that of honor, peace, beauty, devotion, and excellence.You're probably wondering what this has to do with woodworking. Its not as much to do with the woodworking as much as it has to do with life. We have within ourselves the natural ability to destroy, hurt, doubt, give up, lie, mistreat, and push people away. But what about beautiful things? Isn't it this that breathes life into people? Isn't it this that breathes life into you?I hope that you see it in what I build with my hands: honor, peace, beauty, devotion, and excellence. And even more than that I hope that it's something you can share in.

I have worked with a cabinet company in my hometown for the last 10 years and wanted to take the skills that I learned in the basics of cabinetmaking and apply it to a more artful form of furniture making and fine box making. I love to make the pieces that people can say, "That was made for me and no one else." I continue to grow in educating myself on the best practices of what I do. I have fine attention to detail which is very important for working with wood. I am a highly experienced finisher as well which means it's not only built with precision and accuracy but finished with the most beautiful finishes available.

I'm an artist. I used to be afraid to say that because I never thought that I could live up to the expectations. I think all artist's struggle with that in some way. Here is my resolve: Out of an artist's creation an audience will see evidence of the artist's true perception of life. But what I began to realize is that this is not only true in what a person creates, but also in how he chooses to live. What this means to me is that we are all artists, everyone one of us, and we're all painting a picture that says something about who we are and what we truly believe. This ancient proverb states it best, "As man thinketh, so is he." We all have a choice to live lives of beauty or some skewed version of it that in the end leaves us wanting. True beauty has drawn me in and it's to him, the one who created us to create, that I dedicate my "life of art."