Micro-Expedition, Sessions 8 and 9

Jack and Willey broke out the hand planes to joint a long stringer of Sitka spruce The boats are shaping up and the students are getting fired up for our journey next month. Here’s a little gallery from the past two weeks of Micro-Expedition, the Atelier Studio I am teaching this semester at CCA as […]

Shed Metrics

My Shed Chair concept was inspired by fences built by local frugal farmers I’ve been paying particularly close attention to the vernacular forms of Sonoma County’s family scale agriculture- the fences, coops, crates and outbuildings associated with our region’s numerous orchards, ranches and vineyards. My friend Cindy Daniel is in the process of realizing an […]

Micro-Expedition, Session 7

Jack and Willey made a lightweight building jig for their shallow kayaks We’re at our half-way point in the semester and the majority of the class are on track to complete their projects with time to spare before we make our voyage just before the winter solstice. Everyone was fully focused and hard at work […]

House of Tree Progress

House of Tree is right at home among the redwoods, catching October’s afternoon sun Ene and I stopped by the site of my House of Tree Project on our way to Occidental’s farmer’s market. Richard and Tom had left for the day, but we climbed up and were excited to see the building’s exterior envelope […]

October Swell

the SW swell has arrived earlier than usual at Doran, bringing steady chest high waves I’ve tried to spend a little time each day shaping my 10-6, solid wood longboard, and it’s finally beginning to look ride-able. With the early arrival of the southwest swell at Doran Beach, I’m encouraged to speed things up, fair […]

Micro-Expedition, Session 3

Jack and Willey did a float test of their matching, 1/4 scale hull models I feel lucky to have such a congenial and productive crew for my Atelier class this semester. The students presented their 1/4 scale models the morning of our third session and have clearly divided into four teams, each collaboratively pursuing a […]

House of Tree

My client will soon plant a hedge of bay laurel to camouflage the front of the tower Though not technically a ‘tree house’ because it makes no connection to any tree, the elevated cabin I designed for a local client has all of the hallmarks of one: 360 degree views through the trees, rustic accommodations, […]