Each week we feature a member on our website and promote them through our social media accounts and weekly emails.
Robert Aiosa
Robert Aiosa is a Multi Media artist and Assistant Professor at University of Central Florida.
Kayla Della-Nebbia
Kayla Della-Nebbia is a multidisciplinary artist from Hamilton, Ontario. She works primarily in wood and glass, creating functional pieces of furniture and blown and cast glass objects. She is currently in her 3rd year at Sheridan College, in the Craft and Design program.
Matthew Hedgepath Smith
Matthew Hedgepath Smith is a Woodworker and Furniture maker living in Austin, TX. He studied Wooden Boat building in the Pacific Northwest and Fine Furniture Making in the Northeast.
Amanda Yoder
Amanda Yoder was born and raised in a small town outside of Raleigh, NC to a family of DIYers. After studying musical theatre at East Carolina University, she moved to NYC to continue pursuing a career in the performing arts. She has since moved back to NC where she started a small urban farm and studying furniture making and design at Haywood Community College.
Sarah Grace Cheek
Sarah Grace Cheek is a designer, maker and artist based in Earlysville, VA. She holds a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Craft & Material Studies where she focused in furniture and textile design.
Esther Cho
Esther Cho is a Korean-American interdisciplinary artist, designer, and papermaker based in Madison, WI. She holds a MFA in woodworking and furniture design from University of Wisconsin-Madison and a dual BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in Craft & Material Studies and Interior Design. She is currently pursuing her second MFA from the University of Wisconsin with a focus in Design Studies and material culture.
Kevin Reiswig
Kevin Reiswig is a furniture maker and wood sculptor whose work focuses on experimentation with materials, forms, and a diverse range of processes. His working style can be both freeform and incredibly meticulous, depending on the piece or the stage of a given project. Kevin makes decisions based on feeling and intuition, reaching into a lifetime of experiences to inspire and inform his work.
Jay T Scott
Jay T Scott is a furniture maker, woodworker living in Olympia, WA. His work is a reflection on how we live and how we respond to objects. It reflects his practice of working the way we love, pursuing excellence and attending to the details and possibilities of each piece.
Tom Stark
Tom Stark is currently a 4th semester student at the Vermont Woodworking School studying Fine Furniture Design and Woodworking
Porter Pacella
Porter is currently a 4th semester student at the Vermont Woodworking School
Brandon Leary & Kiya Vega-Hutchens
October 10 – 16, 2022
This week we are featuring two more students from the Vermont Woodworking School’s 3rd semester program.
Boyd Boyd & Calla Bilhorn
October 3 – 9, 2022
This week we are featuring two students from the Vermont Woodworking School’s 3rd semester program.
Jomo Tariku
Jomo Tariku is an Ethiopian American artist, industrial designer, and a pioneer of modern African design. In 2017, he launched his namesake collection featured in numerous publications including Elle Décor, Architectural Digest, and Interior Design. His work is also included in the permanent collection of major museums including the MET, The Mint and LACMA.
Learn more about Jomo:
https://www.jomofurniture.com/
@jomofurniture
https://www.facebook.com/JomoF…
Rob Spiece
Rob Spiece is a furniture maker and teacher living in Berea, Kentucky. He is the Director of Woodcraft at Berea College Student Craft. He creates his own designs as well as custom furniture with simple lines and elegant forms, focusing on design, joinery & finishing. Rob has had articles published in Woodcraft Magazine, Fine Woodworking, and Furniture & Cabinetmaking.
Learn more about Rob:
Peter Antor
Peter Antor received his MFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry with a minor in Woodworking from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2016 and his BFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry from Grand Valley State University in 2011. Peter works with a wide range of materials from precious metals to concrete and wood. His body of work ranges from sculptural jewelry to functional lighting. Architecture has a large influence on his work and designs.
Recently he opened a design and fabrication company in Chicago where he creates original and commission-based work. His favorite part of this practice is ideation and the subsequent problem solving of turning that idea into a tactile piece: first, choosing what material would best express the idea, then deciding the proper techniques and tools to turn the raw material into something beautiful. Peter’s studio is located in the Mana Contemporary building in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.
Lauren Verdugo — STUDENT Member (recently graduated)
Lauren is a Southern California based artist and furniture maker. She received her AA in Arts and Humanities from Chaffey College in 2017 and in 2021, completed her BA in Applied Design at San Diego State University with an emphasis in Furniture Design and Woodworking. Since 2012, she has worked at The Maloof Foundation and in 2017, Lauren began her apprenticeship with master craftsman Larry White, Sam Maloof’s first employee circa 1962.
Lauren’s work ranges from furniture to sculpture with no limitations on mixing media. Lauren teaches regularly at The Maloof Foundation as well as Allied Woodshop in Los Angeles, CA.
During the pandemic, Lauren co-created an online student platform with artist/maker Esther Cho, through The Furniture Society’s FS Connects project, to provide resources, discussions, and community for craft students across the country.
Find Lauren on the web: https://laurenverdugo.com/
Andy Buck
Andy Buck spent much of his youth living in Geneva, Switzerland while his father, an expert in tropical medicine, worked for the World Health Organization. Immersed in an international environment, Buck gained an appreciation for multiculturalism and was first exposed to the many cultural and geographical wonders of the world. Inspired first by African and Oceanic artifacts through his father’s frequent travels, his fascination with unique artistic perspectives and global interpretations of the natural world has guided his creative practice as a furniture designer and artist. An active maker for more than 25 years, Andy Buck has exhibited his work in galleries and museums throughout the United States, in Europe and Australia. Bringing together traditional craftsmanship, investigations in form, pattern, and colorful painted surfaces, his work of furniture and sculpture is included in both public and private collections. Based in Upstate New York, Buck maintains a studio and leads the Woodworking and Furniture Design program at the Rochester Institute of Technology where he has been teaching for the last 22 years.
Find Andy on the web: http://andybuck.com/home.html
Teresa Audet — STUDENT Member
Teresa Audet is an artist and furniture maker from Minneapolis. Audet holds a BFA in Furniture Design from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and has studied at the Mount Fuji School of Fine Woodworking in Yamanashi, Japan. She has been awarded several grants including two Artist Initiative Grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and an EFASO grant from the Furniture Society. She participates in artist residencies and teaches at craft schools nationwide. Audet is currently an MFA candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison expected to graduate in 2023.
Find Teresa on the web: http://www.teresaaudet.com/
Richard Oedel
Richard Oedel has been making furniture since he was a teenager. His primary shop is in Boston, where he shares a 5,000 sq ft space with the other members of Fort Point Cabinetmakers. He divides his time between Boston and his other design space in Wolfeboro, NH. A past Chairman of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters, his work is sold and exhibited internationally. Federal furniture is one of his specialties.
He has been featured in Fine Woodworking and Woodshop News, as well as other periodicals and books. A sought-after keynote speaker, he was also the Chair of the national Furniture Society Conference in 2010 at MIT.
His work is in private and public collections as well as the collections of the Metropolitan Museum and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Featured Members & Schools
The Furniture Society is proud and honored to feature these talented members & schools!
For 25 years and counting, our members and community are the reason The Furniture Society has thrived and grown. It’s important to spotlight these talented artists and recognize and thank those that have taken the time to fill out their profile pages and share their work on our website. We feature degree and non-degree granting schools to highlight all the great programs that are out there and what they have to offer. Could you be next?
Chelsea Witt
Chelsea Witt is an artist and educator working in both wood and ink. Currently based in New Jersey, Chelsea has a sculpture degree from the University of South Florida and is a graduate of the Furniture Intensive at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. Chelsea has worked for and studied with artist/makers such as Alexis Dold, Tyler Hays, Christina Boy, Aaron Fedarko, Tim Rousseau, and David Upfill-Brown. Chelsea has taught at Penland School of Craft, Haystack Mountain School of Craft, Peters Valley School of Craft and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship. Chelsea currently teaches 3D design and woodworking at Moorestown Friends School and works for both the Furniture Society and A Workshop of Our Own.
“My priority when teaching is to include the excluded and push the boundaries of “the norm” in a woodshop. My priority as an artist is to explore and push the boundaries of emotional and mental health.”
Michael O. Moore
Michael O. Moore designs and makes custom furniture and other items on Boston’s North Shore.
On an extended business trip Michael spent a Saturday at the Art Institute of Chicago and came across a mesmerizing music stand by Wendell Castle. That event and his existing interest in furniture and woodworking eventually led him to become a maker.
And of course, a music stand had to follow too. The first was made for a daughter who plays the flute. He’s made many more and continues to explore the form.
Wells Mason
Wells Mason is an American designer and sculptor. He founded Ironwood Industries in 1995. He has exhibited his work in galleries and museums around the country, and he’s been featured in countless regional, national, and international publications. He’s a member of the American Craft Council, the Furniture Society, and the International Sculpture Center, and he serves on the board of the Huntington Sculpture Foundation. He’s also a writer, curator, and community activist – with a history of impossible-sounding community projects. These days, he focuses on studio furniture and contemporary sculpture. He’s based in Coupland, Texas.
David Knopp
David Knopp has explored the aesthetic qualities of line for many years, first with life drawings, then with sculpture. Based in Baltimore, Maryland, Knopp made his first sculptures with plywood and was surprised to discover the linear strata inherent in the medium. Knopp creates flowing, liquid lines that engage the senses as the eye travels over the complicated contours of his objects. His pieces are functional, but he tends to focus on the aesthetic qualities rather than design principles. Every finished piece is one of a kind. In 2012 Knopp received the Mary Sawyer Baker Artist Award, which included an exhibit at the Baltimore Museum of Art. He was a recipient of Maryland State Art Council’s Individual Artist Award in 2012. In 2013 he was a semi-finalist for the Sondheim Prize. Since then he has been invited to exhibit work throughout Baltimore, DC and Philadelphia metropolitan areas. Knopp was accepted in juried exhibitions, including Craftforms 2011 through 2016, Living with Craft Invitational 2014, SOFA Chicago 2014 and 2016, Delaware Center for Contemporary Art 2013, 2014, The Center for Art in Wood in 2016, and the Delaware Art Museum Craft Exhibition in 2019. One of his sculpted chairs is in the permanent collection of the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD.
Brian Wurst
Brian Wurst is the lead instructor in Haywood Community College’s Professional Crafts Wood program in Clyde, NC. He began his career as a commercial architect, then transitioned to the more hands-on, personal-scale role of woodworker. From his Asheville studio he has since fashioned work across two decades for galleries, homes, and businesses in the region and beyond. While teaching full-time, Brian still undertakes occasional exhibition pieces and commissions that feature curves, exploration of techniques, and regionally-inspired natural themes.
Michael Tudor
Michael Tudor has been designing and making furniture in Elkhart, Indiana, for over 40 years — in addition to a 30 year engineering career in manufacturing (not furniture). Self-taught, he has had a piece accepted into the Elkhart’s Midwest Museum of American Art’s — Juried Regional Art Exhibition twice in recent years and received a “Purchase Award” each year.
Find Michael on the web:
IG — https://www.instagram.com/2tudorcf/
FB — https://www.facebook.com/tudor.cf
Catherine Emil
Cambridge, Vermont-based Catherine Emil is a designer, woodworker, and educator living & working in northern Vermont. After completing the immersion program at Vermont Woodworking School, she co-founded Towards Nightfall, a furniture company that builds contemporary, high-quality custom furniture for both residential and commercial clients. She finds her inspiration in art, light, and the changing seasons. In addition to running Towards Nightfall, she is also the Director of the Vermont Woodworking School.
Find Catherine on the web: https://www.towardsnightfall.c…
Vermont Woodworking School 3rd Semester Students
October 25 – 31, 2021
The Vermont Woodworking School recognizes the importance of their students belonging to a community and organization that supports the field in which they have chosen to study and create a potential career for themselves. This week, we are thrilled to feature and highlight their 3rd semester students:
Tyler McKee, Matt Menendez, & Lucas Thayer
Vermont Woodworking School 2nd Semester Students
October 18 – 24, 2021
The Vermont Woodworking School recognizes the importance of their students belonging to a community and organization that supports the field in which they have chosen to study and create a potential career for themselves. We are thrilled to feature and highlight their 2nd semester students this week:
Allen Audette, Andrew Shoup, Joel Garner, Kainoa F. Chong-Gangl, Phoenix Van Dyk, Porter Pacella, and Rachel Taylor.
Kimberly Mann
I’ve been making my whole life. I have a Masters in Art from the University of Guam, and am currently completing a program in Fine Furniture Making from Vermont Woodworking School. I work in a variety of mediums, but am currently excited about wood, wood burning, and gold leaf. I love the process of“rescuing remnants” by using leftover pieces from previous works, or found materials that would otherwise be scrapped. Natural resources are limited and I am committed to conserving as much as possible. I find the redeeming quality of this process an encouraging metaphor for life: that something that seems broken and discarded can be made new and whole and beautiful.
You can find Kimberly on the web https://www.kimberlymann.com/ and on Instagram: @maker.kimberlymann
Hel Hamilton
Vermont-based Hel Hamilton went to college for animation before deciding that they preferred working with their hands to sitting in front of a computer. After graduating from MICA, they looked for a woodworking apprenticeship before enrolling at the Vermont Woodworking School. After finishing the Immersion program at VWS, Hel stayed to work in the office as the Programs Assistant while spending their free time carving and experimenting with different woodworking projects.
N.E. Brown
N.E. Brown was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1988. Brown’s work reflects personal experiences, empirical observations, and her interest in the narrative – telling stories of people and places. Brown received her BFA in painting and drawing from Tyler School of Art and her MFA at the University of Iowa. She also studied painting and drawing in Rome, Italy. She lived and worked in Nablus, Palestine, for 9 months teaching English and art as well as creating murals.
Her work has been exhibited in group shows at Circolo Degli Artisti in Rome, Italy; Widener University in Chester, PA; and the Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Brown’s artwork is included in numerous public and private collections including the Lewis Tanner Moore Collection and the Petrucci Family Foundation Collection as well as the collection of the Yafa Cultural Center in Balata Refugee Camp.
Find N.E. Brown on the web: https://www.nebrownart.com/
Jason Schneider
Jason Schneider is an artist and furniture maker from Marquette, Michigan. He received his M.F.A. in Furniture Design from San Diego State University. For 10 years, Jason was the Studio Coordinator of the Furniture Design and Woodworking program at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. He has exhibited his work extensively throughout the United States, including SOFA Chicago, the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, ICFF in New York, and the Center for Art and Wood in Philadelphia, PA. Jason currently teaches Woodworking and Furniture Design at Northern Michigan University.
Find Jason on the web: https://jasonschneiderfurnitur…
Follow him on Instagram and Facebook
Coby Unger
Coby Unger is a maker of things and a connoisseur of high fives. His background is in woodworking, product design and mess making. He studied Industrial Design at Philadelphia University and spent several months as a resident artist at Autodesk’s Pier 9 Workshop. Coby prides himself on being a professional amateur, and dabbles in many fields. In his design practice he likes to supplement his more serous work with playful and humorous projects. His recent endeavors include a mobile maker lab in India, efficient biomass cooking stoves, and low cost prosthetic devices, as well as playful public furniture, skate boards, bicycles and some complex wood turnings. Currently he is living in Somerville Massachusetts and working as an instructor at the MIT Hobby Shop.
Find Coby on the web: https://www.cobyungerdesign.co…
Follow him on Instagram and Facebook
Christina Vincent
My fine furniture and jewelry are inspired by the organic shapes and natural beauty of North Haven, the Maine island I call home. The curve of a sea bird’s wing, the crest of a wave, or the slope of a distant mountain are reflected in the pieces I craft. They are intended to serve as both a focal point and a functional part of someone’s home.
Each piece is constructed with traditional and contemporary joinery methods and fine-tuned with chisels and hand planes. I use sustainably harvested wood and finishes derived from natural oils and waxes in all of my work. As I continuously learn new techniques and find new inspiration in my surroundings, My work evolves and progresses while maintaining my core values of well-crafted, functional and beautiful pieces that will last.
Find Christina on the web: https://www.christinamvincent.…
… and on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinamvincent/
Martin Hernandez
A BFA graduate of the Cal State Long Beach 3D Media: Wood, Metal, Fiber program, Martin Hernandez is an interdisciplinary crafts person with an emphasis in technical skill mastery and conceptual art. His studio practice considers traditional and modern approaches to art as cultural production, while critically engaging with design and production methods that inhabit various contemporary spaces.
Find Martin on the web: https://www.martinalexanderstu…
Abraham Tesser
Abraham Tesser, now based in Athens, Georgia, started building furniture as a hobby over 40 years ago. After retiring from academe, about 20 years ago, he became serious about designing and building furniture. His woodworking style reflects his academic background in several ways. He thinks long and hard about design and construction issues before creating the first bit of sawdust. He reads voraciously about design, woodworking, andfurniture, and enjoys writing and lecturing about these topics.
Find Abraham on the web: https://tesserfurniture.com/
Rebecca Juliette-Duex
Asheville, NC-based maker Rebecca Juliette-Duex was introduced to the value of craft at an early age. During visits to her mother’s childhood home in rural Western Pennsylvania, she observed how her grandparents found solace in their own handcraft; her grandfather, a coal miner, in his woodshop and her grandmother with needle and thread or yarn. An immersion in weaving (2017 – 19) and woodworking (2019 – 21) at Haywood Community College has been an opportunity to build the skills necessary to honor the legacy of her grandparents. Rebecca’s work brings wood and fiber into conversation to tell the story of her own creative heritage and to inspire others to do the same.
Alf Sharp
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.alfredsharp.com/
Travis Townsend
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://travistownsendart.com/…
Fred Rose
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.facebook.com/fred.…
Sharon Mehrman
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/
Beston Barnett
“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://bestonbarnett.com/
Michael Singer
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.…
Reuben Foat
“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.reubenfoat.com/
Maggie Sasso
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.instagram.com/maggiesasso/
James Kennell
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.studiojleslie.com/
Chris Poehlmann
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.cplighting.com/
Stephen Yusko
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/
Valerie Berlage
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
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
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.instagram.com/camb…
Neda Moshg Foroush
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.
Vance Bauman
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
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.instagram.com/icat…
Michael Puryear
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/
Peter Scheidt
“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.peterscheidt.com/
Joel Scilley
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
Chris Martin
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://chrismartinfurniture.co…
Bruce Bradford
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
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/
Featured Members
So many great members, so much great work!
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.