Brian's Woodwork
The History & Story
Hopefully my dialog does not bore you. Rather, you find some enjoyment and insight to how my work has come about. We all have dreams, passions and desires. I included this brief autobiography because I find it relevant to share with you how anyone can dream and aspire to their goals and expressions.
A lot of my interest in woodworking was originally inspired while I was very young. My father had some old heavy-duty industrial cast iron Craftsman power tools. They were kept in the basement workshop of our Long Island New York home. He used them for finishing the basement, adding on additions to the house, and building a huge garden shed in the backyard amongst other things. When I was 5 years old, I used to play around these things pretending to be building things like my dad. Luckily they were never plugged in while I was around them. Needless to say, I learned quickly that these tools were really sharp and were not toys.
When I was about 10 years old, I got my first pet gerbils. As with any small rodent like animals, you need to provide bedding for them. At that time you would go down to the local department store and buy a bag of aromatic cedar shavings. One time while I was horsing around in the basement during a winter snowstorm. I stumbled upon my first piece of aromatic wood cedar. My dad had some scraps lying around from the time he built the family picnic table. I got a whiff of the wood and enjoyed its fragrance and immediately correlated it to my gerbils bedding materials. I thought, so that's where this stuff comes from. But, how? It didn't take me long before I discovered I could power up my dad's jointer and put a nice heavy cut into the wood. Lone and behold before I knew it I had cedar shaving all over the basement workshop floor, stunk up the house with the incense of cedar, and had my mom worrying about who blew-up her prized cedar chest. I said, "Hey mom, look I can make my own and save money." From then on, I discovered how the power of tools could work for me and wanted to build things from wood.
When I was 12 years old, I went to a junior high school that had a fantastic fine and industrial arts program that included a full wood shop. This is how I discovered my real passion for woodworking. During my course work, I built all kinds of projects; a toolbox I gave to my dad for father’s day, a bookshelf of solid walnut and my first lathe project, a lamp for my bedroom from alder wood. I still have these items today and you can look at them and make your own judgments. When it came to report card time, I pulled straight A's in all my industrial arts classes. My parents had higher expectations for my college education and always said "why can't you pull these grades in all your classes?" Obviously, academics are not like shop classes. Lets see how many 12 year olds do you know who find a calculus class fun? They love and cared for me... Today, the junior high school is gone because progress and urbanization gave way to luxurious homes.
My
desire to build projects from wood was never extinguished. We moved
from New York to southern California when I was in my junior year of high
school. I still wanted to make things out of wood. The
neighborhood we moved into at that time was on the rural edges of
town. Hillsides and cattle ranges were abounding. Then, as
with any urban expansion, the hillsides there were dozed over for housing.
I used to hang around the construction sites and got to know the workers
and asked them for the scrap cut offs. Before you knew it, my
buddies and I had a two level tree house that had a view of the harbor.
A kid's dream comes true. Several years latter I moved from home to
live on my own to go to college.
While away, I learned about how a wild fire destroyed my old hang out.
Going
to college, I did not have much for worldly possessions and needed some
essentials. The small
apartment I lived in had a garage that I turned into a small woodshop for
building furniture. At that
time, I had the most primitive of power hand tools I could afford.
However, I was able to build a butcher blocked kitchen table,
coffee and end tables, an entertainment center, speaker cabinets and a
waterbed frame and headboard set to make my pad complete. I definitely
drove the people who lived on the floor above the garage absolutely crazy
with construction noise. One
fourth of July weekend while building my waterbed, they called the fire
department because I burned some wood in a worn out saw blade.
Shortly after then I relocated and eventually graduated college and
pursued a career in business computer networking systems.
I
continued building home and garden furniture
as I maintained my passion for woodworking.
One year, I was gazing upon that lamp I made when I was 12.
It was some 20 years old by now.
I reflected back on the time and enjoyment I had making it.
How my shop peers envied the curves and smooth finish when I
submitted it for grading. This
reflection caused me to purchase a cheesy lathe for under $100, figuring it
was a spontaneous whim that I needed to satisfy. Later, I talked to my dad about my purchase and he suggested
I buy a block of Honduras mahogany to turn.
He always envied this wood as a beautiful species and always
dreamed of turning wood himself. Later
I bought a piece and set it aside in the corner of the garage because I
became too busy with other projects. A
few months later my mom suffered a fall and was hospitalized with a severe
hip fracture. I needed to
come up with something to cheer her up.
That’s when I dusted off the piece of mahogany and spun it on
that lathe I put aside. I
created her a matched pair of candlestick holders.
This was only my second ever lathe
production.
I gave these to her as a welcome home gift from the hospital.
It brought her smiles of surprise and joy equally as well to my dad.
Today,
I turn wood more for enjoyment and to satisfy my passion for woodworking.
When I sell one of my works, I know it will bring smiles and joy to
someone’s heart. Whether
it’s for ones’ own enjoyment, or as a gift given to someone else.
Each piece of work is a highly cared for hand crafted item.
I create each turning in such a way, that I feel what works best with
the wood. The wood I use is
mostly hand selected and scrutinized for character and form.
I’ll travel for hours just to hand select one specific species.
It’s not so much what I want the wood to do; rather it’s what
the wood tells me it can do. It
gives me the ability handle and read the grain to decipher what it can be
made into. These are all
items from nature and from the world around us.
Wood was once a living and noble stand.
Today they are creations of art, beauty, elegance and craftsmanship
for anyone to enjoy.
I
hope you enjoyed my story and craft.
Please look around and enjoy what you see.
Perhaps you may find something for your own enjoyment.
Take care and enjoy what nature has to offer.
Regards,
Brian
