AP Woodworking

Your treasure as the tree’s last story . . .
TEN YEARS AGO, I moved my family off the grid to an 80-acre homestead in the woods of northern Wisconsin. It was always a dream of mine to build from trees that I knew personally. You might wonder what a person can learn from a tree. You’d be surprised. Bullet wounds, lightning strikes, knot-holes and rain damage - I build around the stories I find in the wood, to honor the character and graining of every board.
IN BOTH MY WORK AND DAILY LIFE, I am drawn to the patient tradition of hand tools, the harmony of glueless joinery, and the soulful approach of the Japanese. As a self-taught woodworker with a BFA and a background in studio arts, I look to this live material for guidance, because I believe a useful object can be art. I am known for the complexity and integrity of my joinery. I believe that if you can see how the piece holds itself together, how the separate components cooperate, then joinery serves as both function and ornamentation. Because we live with a conscious effort to conserve electricity and resources, I employ as many hand tools as possible. Working this way in my opinion also produces the most structurally sound and aesthetically beautiful results.