Building high quality furniture has been a passion of mine for some 35 years. After graduating from Bethel College in N. Newton, Kansas with an Industrial Arts degree in 1971, I spent some time restoring old furniture pieces, learning which construction methods held up over time, and how to best apply those techniques to new creations. Over the years, I have continued to learn, and have refined and built on those collected bits of information. Current work ranges from innovations in more modern vein, to expressions and interpretations of traditional styles. Of particular focus is re-interpreting the furniture history of my own heritage -- immigrant Mennonite furniture, originating in the Vistula River Delta in Northern Poland, a style that dates back to the early 1800's. That style includes traditional jointery, inlaid patterns, hand graining and painted detail.
My intent is to continue the tradition of quality design and construction, working with my clients to produce a piece that is functional as well as beautiful. A quote in "Kansas Heritage", a publication of the Kansas State Historical Society, reads: "And indeed the chairs, armoirs, and desks that issue from his woodshop seem more to be forms of art than functional pieces. He has produced roll-top desks, king-sized bed frames, and dining room sets with delicate inlaid designs in the tops".
"Before the carpenter can make a chair, he must have a pattern of a chair. The pattern is more important than the actual chair because one can destroy the chair, but not the pattern. It is the mold from which all real things are cast. And somewhere behind the walled facade of reality, there is a timeless world in which these molds are kept."
