Janice Smith

it’s great turning ideas into reality with wood­work­ing. I espe­cially enjoy creat­ing a sense of move­ment in my designs by playing with balance and asym­me­try. Creat­ing curves or acute angles and folds is labor inten­sive, but it’s a labor of love. I require my furni­ture to be func­tional, well crafted and comfort­able but love the fact that furni­ture is sculp­tural as well as useful.

I always liked drawing and art but didn’t think of wood­work­ing until ​“Shop for Girls” was offered for the fist time in 1969 when I was a Junior in high school. Teach­ing is a passion for me because I feel so lucky to have made that connec­tion at that age as a girl. I now teach wood­work­ing at Bucks County Commu­nity College and teach carpen­try to young people on parole and proba­tion with the Mural Arts’ restora­tive justice program in Philadelphia.

I share a shop with another wood­worker and work with my husband doing reno­va­tion projects on our house.