Milling the Pecan Tree

My friend Sean Gavin mills logs on site with his portable Wood-Mizer I spent an action-packed weekend milling my first tree, a mature pecan (Carya Illinoensis) that grew in the sandy soil of a nearby horse pasture. The tree was beginning to die and had been dropping large branches, threatening the safety of the horses. […]

Coffee Table Series

The first in a series of coffee tables, a lozenge-shaped slab, 30″ x 72″ x 16.5″ high I’ve begun making a series of coffee tables, encouraged by a recent commission from my brother in law to make one for my sister’s 50th birthday later this month. It’s always easier to make things in small multiples, […]

A September Ritual

Each fall I sweep the dry duff off of our funky barn roof before the Dampness ensues One of my September rituals has been clearing the corrugated roof of our funky back barn. The rambling, open-air structure is an explosion of three dissimilar building concepts, fused together with the oddball valleys and warped pitches of […]

Pencil Panic

Front and back of my last box of Blue Band Velevet #5572 As a daily comfort I prefer quality, vintage pencils, which I use in the course of drawing, writing and working with wood. I’m in a bit of a panic, down to my last box of Blue Band Velvets, manufactured by the American Lead […]

Dream Shop

I recently completed a new deck at the entry to my dedicated, 20′ x 30′ wood shop After over five years developing our rural home and studio on the Sonoma Coast, the constant challenge has been to both maintain and improve our facilities to meet the increasing scope and scale of our projects, while optimizing […]

Donald’s Whittling and Scrimshandering Soiree

Pippa Murray, Donald Fortescue and John Randolph, a-whittlin’ at the Headlands Craving both a mental vacation and physical challenge, I decided to embark on an impromptu four day bike trip down the coast, eqipped with the barest possible essentials of food, clothing and shelter. My destination would be the Headlands Center for the Arts near […]

Tree Consciousness

One of my few surviving drawings of trees from first and second grade My fascination with trees and wood dates from early childhood, when I would spend hours staring at trees in different seasons and trying to draw them as accurately as I was able, carefully mapping every branch, leaf or blossom. I remember getting […]