I’ve been making Windsor chairs since the early 2000s. I love the form for its utility as well as its appearance. I built my first chair (pictured) during a class with Mike Dunbar at his Windsor Institute. A handmade Windsor chair is an engineering marvel, where each element is designed to do a particular job well - the beauty of the chair arises out of the synergy of all of the well-engineered parts. See my blog for more of these musings…

In the past I have worked as both a hardware and software engineer. Like many in these fields I found myself drawn to furniture making as a hobby. I think the concrete nature of building something with your hands provides a welcome contrast to the abstractness of working with computers. I find the transformation from raw materials (some of which are literally a log with bark still on) to a finished chair to be both satisfying and fascinating (see my blog!). Finally, I love that my chairs will be used long after I’m gone, while the software that I wrote just ten years ago has vanished into the ether. :)

I’ve been fortunate to be able to take classes with a number of master chairmakers over the years, including Peter Galbert, George Sawyer, and Peter Follansbee. I have also learned a huge amount from Curtis Buchanan, via his YouTube videos and chair plans. I make use of the techniques and processes that I have learned from these masters in order to create beautiful chairs that will be handed down from generation to generation.