After a half-hearted attempt at a law degree, Alf Sharp discov­ered his true voca­tion in fine furni­ture­mak­ing. Thirty-five years later he’s still at it with as much enthu­si­asm as at the begin­ning. Almost all work is done on a custom commis­sion basis, in close collab­o­ra­tion with clients and their design­ers. Special­iz­ing in 18th and 19th Century Amer­i­can and Euro­pean design, Sharp also enjoys Beider­meier, Art Deco, Chinese, and contem­po­rary design. His own orig­i­nal work has, most often, at least a toe-hold in tradi­tion. Sharp has pieces in histor­i­cal homes and museums through­out the US, as well as in fine private homes nation­ally. He is the recip­i­ent of the 2008 Cartouche award from The Society of Amer­i­can Period Furni­ture Makers. He is past Pres­i­dent of the Furni­ture Society. When not absorbed in the wood­shop or playing with his grand­chil­dren, he enjoys restor­ing and driving classic British sportscars.

Find Alf on the web: http://​www​.alfred​sharp​.com/

Artist and teacher Travis Townsend draws, builds, rebuilds, paints, and tinkers upon wood and mixed media sculp­tures in his Lexing­ton, Kentucky studio. His process-oriented works evolve from sketches and travel through many trans­for­ma­tions before being cut apart, reassem­bled, and reworked (some­times many years later). Parts are often trans­planted or recycled.

He has been a resi­dent artist at Penland School of Craft, Oregon College of Art and Craft, Vermont Studio Center, and Peters Valley School. His awards include an Emerg­ing Artist Grant from the Amer­i­can Craft Council, a fellow­ship from the Kentucky Arts Council, three sculp­ture grants from the Virginia A. Groot Foun­da­tion, and recent travel grants from the Great Meadows Foundation.

Find Travis on the web: https://​trav​is​townsendart​.com/…

Fred Rose is a self-employed artist living in Costa Mesa, Cali­for­nia. He has been making wood sculp­ture for the last 25 years. He is influ­enced by the writ­ings of Eric Sloan and John Seymour, and the works of such artists as Noguchi, David Nash, Martin Puryear, Guiseppe Penone, and his own child­hood along the river and in the forest.

Fred Rose is inter­ested in how the spec­trum of tradi­tions in wood from util­i­tar­ian wood­work­ing, wood sculp­ture, and folk art can act as visual poetry about the nature of the phys­i­cal world or the quirks of being human.

Find Fred on the web: https://​www​.face​book​.com/fred.…

Designer, maker, and educa­tor Sharon C. Mehrman is based in Florence, Mass­a­chu­setts, where she owns and oper­ates a one-woman work­shop. Her work has been juried into nation­ally recog­nized museum exhi­bi­tions and craft shows, and she received the 2015 Popular Wood­work­ing Maga­zine Wood­work­ing Excel­lence Award for her piece The Thread Chest. She holds a Master’s of Design and a Grad­u­ate Certifi­cate in Public History from the Univer­sity of Mass­a­chu­setts Amherst. Sharon brings over 30 years’ prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence as a designer and wood­worker to her work as a researcher and histo­rian of mate­r­ial culture, historic wood­work­ing trades, tools, and tech­nol­ogy. She is a research fellow at Winterthur in Delaware and is the Direc­tor of the Master Furni­ture Program at Hill Insti­tute in Florence, Mass­a­chu­setts, where she teaches wood­work­ing and furniture making.

Find Sharon on the web: https://www.sharonmakesfurniture,com/

“I design one-of-a-kind and short-run pieces mostly on commis­sion, focus­ing on quality joinery, solid wood, modern lines, and often inspired by Islamic tradi­tions. Beston Barnett Design is based in San Diego.”

Find Beston on the web: http://​beston​bar​nett​.com/

I am a self-taught maker special­iz­ing in custom, client-centric furni­ture and acces­sories. My design goal is to attain just the right equi­lib­rium between form, func­tion, art, and craft. My orig­i­nal designs blend the essences of basic Asian and contem­po­rary aesthet­ics, with a fluency in the vocab­u­lary of modernism. I enjoy working coop­er­a­tively with clients in an inter­ac­tive design process, creat­ing pieces that are at once rele­vant to the client, their space, and their lifestyle; that are func­tional; that display a high level of crafts­man­ship; and that include some­thing of my own personal aesthetic. I use hand-selected domes­tic and imported hard­woods, choice soft­woods, and accent­ing in shell, metal, and glass.

Find Michael on the web: https://www.msfinewoodworking.…

“I am from Wiscon­sin and started wood­work­ing while an under­grad at UW-Madison, even­tu­ally earning a BS in Art. I built cabi­nets and furni­ture in London, UK, Rock­land, ME, Milwau­kee, WI, and San Diego, CA. I attended grad school at San Diego State Univer­sity and earned an MFA in Art special­iz­ing in Furni­ture Design. I have taught a class or two at UMass Dart­mouth, Ander­son Ranch, Haystack, Penland, and Center for Furni­ture Crafts­man­ship. Now I teach full-time in the Wood­work­ing Manu­fac­tur­ing Tech­nolo­gies Depart­ment at Cerri­tos College in Norwalk, California”

Find Reuben on the web: http://​www​.reuben​foat​.com/

Maggie Sasso is a Milwau­kee based artist produc­ing concep­tual bodies of work that express macro-cosmic ideas through micro­cos­mic detail and examine the role of mate­r­ial culture in rela­tion­ship to our collec­tive past. Her instal­la­tions are tactile and pene­tra­ble, employ­ing Great Lakes maritime culture as a cata­lyst to plunge us into narra­tives of emotional and uncanny vast­ness. Using fiber art and textiles tech­niques to stand in for tradi­tion­ally hard-bodied forms, and present­ing objects as theatri­cal props and mate­r­ial relics, Sasso consid­ers the balance between diffi­cult tragedy and humor­ous opti­mism and regards ordi­nary stories from Midwest­ern char­ac­ters as reverent legends.

Sasso has exhib­ited nation­ally, with solo exhi­bi­tions in Madison, WI, Port­land, OR, Lexing­ton, KY and Milwau­kee, WI, and group exhi­bi­tions across the US and Canada, most notably at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, where she was a Exhibit­ing Artist in Resi­dence, and the Haggerty Museum of Art. In 2015 she was the recip­i­ent of a Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellow­ship for Indi­vid­ual Artists. Sasso is a full time artist, her studio is located @ VarWest.

Maggie served on the Board of Trustees of the Furni­ture Society from 2014 – 2019 and as the Student Repre­sen­ta­tive from 2004-05.

Find Maggie on the web: http://​www​.maggiesasso​.com/
… and on Insta­gram: https://​www​.insta​gram​.com/​m​a​g​g​i​e​s​asso/

Santa Fe, NM, based furni­ture maker is also a working anthropologist:

“As an anthro­pol­o­gist and wood­worker, I strive to let the ideas and expe­ri­ence of the client guide the design and process of creat­ing a piece of art or furni­ture. Design­ing a piece and working the mate­ri­als into final form both play their parts in the lived expe­ri­ence of the maker and the client. I like to conduct an ethnog­ra­phy, of sorts, of a poten­tial space for my work to reside- the aesthetic and expe­ri­ence of the client, the lived-in space, how a piece will be inter­acted with, observed and connected with — all these guide design. Over the past 20 years I have worked as an anthro­pol­o­gist doing public health research and devel­op­ment in West Africa and continue with that work today (www​.couffo​.org). My studio is in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where Shauna and I live with our two dogs, Kroeber and Lola.”

Find James on the web: http://​www​.studio​jleslie​.com/

Christo­pher Poehlmann has been design­ing and manu­fac­tur­ing studio furni­ture and deco­ra­tive light­ing since 1985. Currently living and working in Philadel­phia, PA, he has served two terms on the FS Board of Trustees. A life­long advo­cate of fine craft, Poehlmann makes no apolo­gies for his obses­sion with making fake wood objects.

Find Chris on the web: http://​www​.cplight​ing​.com/

Stephen Yusko’s studio is located in Cleve­land, OH, where he creates forged, machined and fabri­cated steel vessels, furni­ture and sculp­ture. Yusko has taught at several schools and univer­si­ties, includ­ing Haystack School of Crafts (ME), Penland School of Crafts (NC), and SUNY Purchase, where he was a Windgate Artist-in-Resi­­dence; and served on the Board of Trustees for the Haystack School. He has exhib­ited his work widely includ­ing the Metal Museum (TN) and the Ruthin Craft Centre (Wales, UK) and has received three Ohio Arts Council Indi­vid­ual Artist Excel­lence Awards and a Cuya­hoga County Creative Work­force Fellow­ship Award. See more on Insta­gram and Face­book at @StephenYuskoStudios.

Find Stephen on the web: http://​www​.stephenyusko​.com/

Born and raised in Western North Carolina, I helped my grand­fa­ther in his wood­work­ing shop as a child and learned tradi­tional South­ern hand­crafts and paint­ing from my grand­moth­ers. Close ties to my family and a love of the moun­tains kept me in WNC even after earning a BFA and K‑12 teach­ing licen­sure from UNC-Asheville. After working for a local crafts­man for a number of years, I enrolled in the Profes­sional Crafts Program at Haywood Commu­nity College and began focus­ing solely on wood­work­ing. While my art has gone through several tran­si­tions over the years, it has remained rooted in my rela­tion­ship with my loved ones, so much so that I named my studio after my two grand­moth­ers. As a real home is built piece by piece, my work is created layer by layer out of wood and paint. The memo­ries and happi­ness that stem from reflec­tion upon my family and child­hood, and that create a sense of home, are inter­preted through color, texture, and pattern. These elements are layered with geomet­ric shapes to convey a sense of depth and history, some­times a like­ness to an actual​“home,” but most impor­tantly, joy.

Find Valerie on the web: http://laurainelilliestudios.c…

Jonah Neumann is a third year student in the Craft and Design program at Sheri­dan College in Oakville, Ontario.

“For me, it’s start­ing from a sketch, tran­si­tion­ing to a design, then to the process of turning a pile of rough lumber into some­thing beau­ti­ful and func­tional. This and the constant chal­lenge of making design deci­sions and working out fabri­ca­tion methods is what makes my job endlessly exciting. 

With a distinct modern approach to design and a large focus on quality of work, I seek to make unique, forward think­ing pieces that stand out, yet are consid­er­ate of their environment.”

Find Jonah on the web: Insta­gram: jonah.neumann

Cameron Block is a designer-maker from St. Catharines, Ontario. He is currently a student enrolled in the Craft & Design: Furni­ture program at Sheri­dan College in Oakville, Ontario.

“I enjoy the unique problem-solving chal­lenges that wood poses. Creat­ing forms that are comfort­able, beau­ti­ful, and func­tional is some­thing that I always strive for. When start­ing a new project, I iden­tify skills that I want to develop and design pieces that will chal­lenge me to grow out of my comfort zone. The pieces often end up show­cas­ing the method by which they were created, flaws and all. When I look back at these pieces, they have an endear­ing quality that captures the spirit of learn­ing and growth.”

Find Cameron on the web: https://​www​.insta​gram​.com/camb…

A designer/​maker from Oakville, Ontario, Neda is a student at Sheri­dan college pursu­ing a bachelor’s degree in craft and design. Her work focuses primar­ily on comfort­able, func­tional designs that inter­act seam­lessly with the human body. Neda has a deep appre­ci­a­tion for the exten­sive processes of wood­work­ing and she is commit­ted to produc­ing high quality work that is time­less in its design.

I am a designer/​maker from Burling­ton, Ontario. I am embark­ing on a second career and am currently enrolled in the Craft and Design Furni­ture program at Sheri­dan College. Having left a career in the finan­cial indus­try, where being creative was frowned upon, I am enjoy­ing exer­cis­ing my design and creative muscles in furni­ture design. I am drawn towards designs and pieces that are solid, strong, and have a presence.

Isabel Catalli is a designer and maker from Missis­sauga ON. She is currently enrolled in the Craft and Design program at Sheri­dan College. Her work is influ­enced by the body, how it moves and how it connects with objects. Each piece is designed with not just a func­tional purpose but with added elements intended to inter­act with the body in a certain way. Isabel uses flowing forms in her work to invite the user to connect to each piece. Her designs aim to incor­po­rate texture and gestural curves as they embrace luxury and comfort.

Find Isabel on the web: https://​www​.insta​gram​.com/icat…

Michael Puryear is a self-taught, nation­ally acclaimed furni­ture designer, and maker who mastered his craft through reading and exper­i­men­ta­tion. Imag­i­na­tive and discern­ing clients will enjoy working with this thought­ful, highly creative designer/​maker to address their furniture needs.

Michael Puryear’s designs are infused with​“shibui”, the Japan­ese term for simple elegance. His disci­plined designs often include curved elements and contrast­ing woods. Michael works primar­ily in wood because of its warmth and appeal to the hand. 

The inspired elegance of Michael Puryear’s furni­ture can compli­ment any modern, contem­po­rary or eclec­tic envi­ron­ment. He is based in Shokan, NY.

Find Michael on the web: http://​www​.michaelpuryear​.com/

“From an early age I have been obsessed with making. I learned the joy and compul­sion for hand­craft­ing from my parents; I grew up working count­less hours along­side my parents either in the garage, wood­shop, or build­ing site. Growing up on an old farm in North­ern Illi­nois there was always a machine to fix, a car to repair, or a board to replace. I left the Mid West to attend college on the East Coast and received a bachelor’s degree in media theory from Brown Univer­sity in Prov­i­dence, RI. Those four years of study­ing crit­i­cal theory continue to inform and inspire me. I have worked design­ing and build­ing custom furni­ture inde­pen­dently and collab­o­ra­tively since 2005. In 2017 I earned an MFA in Furni­ture Design and Wood­work­ing at San Diego State Univer­sity and focused on recon­cil­ing my degree in crit­i­cal theory with my compul­sion to make objects. My studio prac­tice is research and concept-driven yet firmly grounded in the craft of furniture.”

Peter is currently Windgate Assis­tant Profes­sor of Wood­work­ing at the Univer­sity of Arkansas in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Find Peter on the web: http://​www​.peter​scheidt​.com/

Orig­i­nally from Florida, Joel Scilley studied art, archi­tec­ture, and design in New York and Europe and earned a PhD in Media and Cultural Studies. Follow­ing these studies, Joel began working as a designer/​carpenter/​woodworker in 1997. Over time, his carpen­try shifted towards fine wood­work­ing, and he made my first turntable and founded Audiowood in 2008.

Joel was named a​“Person to Watch” and a​“Tech Designer to Watch” by New Orleans Maga­zine and Apart­ment Therapy, respec­tively. He won​“Most Unique Work” awards at New Orleans’ Jazz Fest in 2015 and 2018, was a final­ist in Etsy’s 2019 Global Design Compe­ti­tion, and won​“Best of Show” at The Green Project’s Salva­tions 2019 salvaged design compe­ti­tion.

Joel has lived in New Orleans since 2013.

Check out Joel’s website and Insta­gram pages

Educa­tor, designer, and maker Chris Martin is based in Ames, Iowa, where he is currently Profes­sor of Art and Visual Culture at Iowa State Univer­sity. He holds a BFA in Craft Design (ISU 1990) and an MFA in Furni­ture Design (RISD 1994). In addi­tion to his teach­ing duties at ISU, Chris has designed and produced furni­ture pieces for both commis­sion and gallery exhi­bi­tions. In 2008 Chris and his wife,Tammi, took leave from ISU for two years of service as U.S. Peace Corps Volun­teers in the West African country of Ghana. More recently Chris was awarded a Fulbright Fellow­ship, spend­ing five months in India working with tradi­tional arti­sans and modern crafts­peo­ple to develop a series of contem­po­rary furni­ture pieces that pay rever­ence to the rich­ness of India’s tradi­tional craft culture. 

Find Chris on the web: http://​chris​mart​in​fur​ni​ture​.co…

Based in Winston-Salem, NC, Bruce Brad­ford is a furni­ture designer who is craft­ing unique works with an artis­tic and func­tional signif­i­cance. Inspired by mid-century Danish furni­ture, he likes to incor­po­rate sculp­tural elements into each piece, with the inten­tion of making them​“func­tional works of art”. Born in 1960 in Western Michi­gan, he obtained a BS in Pack­ag­ing Engi­neer­ing from Michi­gan State Univer­sity in 1982. He then moved to Winston Salem, NC in 1983 to work at RJ Reynolds Tobacco Inter­na­tional. He began his profes­sional wood­work­ing career in 1999 when he received his first commis­sion, a free stand­ing wooden spiral stair­case. In 2000 and 2001 he trav­eled to Ander­son Ranch Art Center in Colorado to attend classes led by Sam Maloof spark­ing his passion for chair making. In 2002 he left RJ Reynolds Tobacco Inter­na­tional and concen­trated full time on making and design­ing furni­ture. Over his career he has created over 225 pieces.

Find Bruce on the web: http://www.bradfordcustomfurni…

Rachel David is a Waynesville, NC based black­smith, sculp­tor, designer, and maker. Her metal­work prac­tice is holis­tic; encom­pass­ing art, furni­ture, archi­tec­tural elements, activism, collab­o­ra­tions, and garden­ing. The work focuses on social and envi­ron­men­tal justice, commu­nity, and commu­ni­ca­tion; analyz­ing the many layers of colo­niza­tion, restraints, and expec­ta­tions across bodies and land­scapes. She has exhib­ited work nation­ally and inter­na­tion­ally in solo and group exhi­bi­tions. Her work has been published in numer­ous books and maga­zines and is included in the collec­tions of the City of New Orleans, the Simone Benet­ton Foun­da­tion, and numer­ous private individuals.

Find Rachel on the web: http://​www​.redmetal​.net/

Our members are the reason The Furni­ture Society has thrived for 24 years and count­ing. We feel it’s impor­tant to spot­light those that have taken the time to fill out their profile pages and share their work with the community.