Philip Morley

Philip Morley‘s passion for wood­work­ing began in his youth when he was intro­duced to wood­work­ing through a shop class in school. In the wood­work­ing shop, Philip, who previ­ously strug­gled in school due to dyslexia, found a place where he could feel success­ful and indeed excel. He pursued his passion by learn­ing the craft of carpen­try and joinery through the City and Guilds of London program, a three year trade school program, working on various histor­i­cal build­ings through­out central London. Through his courses Philip devel­oped a passion for fine furni­ture crafts­man­ship and pursued appren­tice­ships to acquire the expe­ri­ence and skill needed. In these appren­tice­ships, Philip gained expe­ri­ence with both furni­ture design and quality crafts­man­ship. Through his appren­tice­ship with furni­ture-master, Michael Colca, he learned the value of crafts­man­ship and integrity in every detail of the piece. Michael contin­ues to be a valued mentor today.

Morley’s furni­ture designs are char­ac­ter­ized by their clean lines, mini­mal­ist forms, and subtly allur­ing design details. His pieces and tech­niques have been featured in FineWood­work­ing Maga­zine and Philip has also appeared in such publi­ca­tions as Texas Monthly. In addi­tion to creat­ing beau­ti­ful pieces, Morley is also commit­ted to preserv­ing the art of custom furni­ture making. He shares his knowl­edge and expe­ri­ence with others through work­shops and classes, where he teaches students about tradi­tional and modern wood­work­ing tech­niques and the impor­tance of crafts­man­ship. In this capac­ity he has taught at schools across the country. He is excited to be co-teach­ing at Center for Furni­ture Crafts­man­ship in the Fall for a portion of their 9 month program. Philip contin­ues to operate his one man shop with a focus on pushing himself to expand on his skills, learn new tech­niques, and build the best pieces he can. His studio sits next to his house so he can be close to his wife and four kids.