It's all mine and you can't have it. I needed a special dresser to fit my cozy apartment bedroom so since I rarely ever make anything for myself, I took a hiatus and spent the winter testing the limits of my shop and skills. If enduring the cold shop making both me and the wood shiver wasn't the hardest part, then it might have been re-gluing the stubborn Ipe (aka Iron Wood aka Brazilian Walnut) and non-porous composite boards. These materials turned out to be every bit as beautiful as they are stubborn. Once the drawers were set into the Ambrosia Maple frame, the color contrast warmed my heart and made this project worth stressing over. The level of anxiety I felt when I wasn't able to work on this piece was something that I had never experienced during my short time as a maker. I apologize to all who endured my divided attention and absence during the making of this dresser. It is one of my favorite personal creations and now I am twice as pleased when it comes time to put on a clean pair of underwear.

Chest of drawers, 28"x18.5"x48", Salvaged Ambrosia Maple, Ipe, Salvaged Poplar composite, Spalted Beach

The Ambrosia Maple frame is lap-jointed and joined with an Ipe through- wedge tenon.

Full view drawers made from tongue and groove (T&G) Ipe and salvaged Poplar composite T&G flooring. The drawers slide on Ipe rails.

Spalted Beach handles. This was the first fitting of the drawers.

When faced with the challenge of creating a unique, no-guidelines coffee table for a client's parents I knew very little about, I found myself doing lots of brainstorming and daydreaming. The only parameter was a bucket of seashells, found on the beach by the customer's grand children, which they wanted to somehow include. This in itself posed a major dilemma - were they expecting the chintzy, cliche beach-house look with hot-glued seashells? I cringed just considering selling out to that style. My work is nothing like that, and not knowing anything else about the client and their taste, I was tasked with creating something I liked and they would love with no input. So I put together an ocean-floor, a live edge Butternut slab, and a boardwalk base. Trusting my own ideas and craftsmanship turned out to be so successful the client had a hard time gifting it and not keeping it for themselves.

Shell Coffee Table, 46"x 22"x 18" butternut slab, salvaged pine, jingle shells, epoxy resin

Industrial shelving that when deconstructed would be the base of the table

The ends of this table were meticulously fit to combine the two sides of the Butternut slab after I split it down the middle, making a wider table top

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Look closely at the shelves and you can see one of my first wood art pieces, but thats not what I'm here to talk about. For this project I had another chance to work with my long-time friends and patrons, who over the years have filled their home with my work and constantly put their faith in my hands. For this project the Gannons wanted 5, "rustic looking," cabinet doors to cover the open spaces under their shelving unit. With this instruction, some lath, and a bit of rope, the completed project left the whole family so happy that they asked for my next project to be a large dining room table. Yes please!