Mildred’s Lane Dispatch

David Brooks tests the completed pole lathe at Mildred’s Lane (photo by Walker Tufts) The Mildred’s Lane Fellows have completed the pole lathe using entirely materials from the land, and are ready to test its performance cutting green wood, split and foraged from recently fallen trees of beech, hickory and white oak. As I have […]

The Week in Bloom

the nuts of the beech (Fagus grandifolia) are edible While foraging for materials to build the pole lathe and develop a Mildred’s Lane product, my attention shifted continually from the trees overhead to the ground underfoot. Here is a sampling of some sightings during the course of a morning hike around the property, near the […]

Mildred’s Lane Dispatch

Mildred’s Lane Fellow, Tyler McPhee, stands by the completed pole lathe ‘motor’ Mildred’s Lane Fellows David Brooks and Tyler McPhee have made impressive progress with the Deep Craft: Bioregional Innovation Project I initiated earlier in the week. Using material culled from the land surrounding Mildred’s Lane, they have constructed the ‘motor’ for a human-powered lathe, […]

Mildred’s Lane Dispatch

an indigo bunting ready for James Prosek’s taxidermy workshop The artist/author James Prosek arrived yesterday morning and led the Mildred’s Lane Fellows in a taxidermy workshop while I surveyed the land for materials. I walked the perimeter of the property’s 90 acres and was pleased to find an abundance of beech and hickory saplings mixed […]

Roadtrip to Mildred’s Lane

seascape under a stormy sky off the coast of Brigantine Island, New Jersey The Delaware River  drains about four percent of the nation’s rainwater into the Atlantic through Delaware Bay, about 20 miles South of the island of Brigantine, New Jersey, where I began my journey to Mildred’s Lane. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, I’ve […]

Vacation

Brigantine Beach, South Jersey I will be taking a break from these pages for the next week or so as we head to the East Coast to see family and spend some time at the beach. I plan to resume making regular posts upon arrival at Mildred’s Lane on or near Saturday, June 27. Stay […]

A Wholesome Chair

modified Windsor chair concept with steam-bent, bundled parts Most of my furniture design over the past ten years or so has developed either from a particular need or from the properties of a particular material, usually wood. Lately I’ve been wanting to broaden my target by channeling my resources into the creation of a signature […]