FWW #110 Philbrick began his career restoring and reproducing 18th-century furniture. Much of his later work bears a strong link to the Art Deco Period. Photo: Courtesy Peter
Joseph Gallery
In April 2000, a few issues shy of Fine Woodworking’s 25th anniversary issue, “Current Work” was born. The new department was created not just to showcase the work of our authors and readers (professionals and amateurs alike). We also wanted to provide design inspiration, glimpses of construction details, and camaraderie to a group of passionate, like-minded people who mostly worked alone in their shops either to make a living or to find a hobbyist’s comfort in the process. Now at our 50th anniversary, we receive thousands of entries per year. Poring through the last quarter century of pieces to pull out a sampling for this issue’s look back at the Gallery (formerly Current Work) was not an easy task. The work we showcase— your work—is inspiring. We narrowed over 2,000 exemplary pieces down to the work you see here. We are honored to show your craftsmanship, issue after issue. Keep working at your craft, and please keep sending us photos of your work. —Anissa Kapsales
Below, you can take a look at the 25th anniversary issue Gallery
Arthur Espenet Carpenter
FWW #1 “Sometimes his pieces look rustic, sometimes elfin, sometimes like playful imitations of the grand schemes of nature: Rick Mastelli writing about Carpenter in FWW #37. Photo: Arthur Espenet Carpenter
Silas Kopf
FWW #53 Kopf studied marquetry at the prestigious Ecole Boulle in Paris. The illusion here is not limited to the open doors and cat; even the pulls are done in marquetry. Photo: Dave Ryan
George Nakashima
FWW #79 Nakashima ( 1905- 1990) is most well-known for his widely copied natural-edge slab tables and this elegant cantilevered chair, which is still being produced by the family business. Photo: George Erml, courtesy of American Craft Museum
Garry K. Bennett
FWW #24 Bennett stirred up a lot of woodworkers with his “desecration” of a finely crafted cabinet. The bent nail that serves as a door pull invoked howls of protests from many readers who did not take kindly to his whimsy. While on exhibit, some viewers scrawled comments on the undersides of drawers, and then signed and dated them. Photo: Lee Fatherree
Wharton Esherick
FWW #19 The organic furniture designed and built by Esherick (1887-1970) beginning in the 1920s seemed glaringly modern for its time and influenced a generation of craftsmen. Photo: Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of American Art
Brian Boggs
FWW #78 Boggs’ chairs are among the most comfortable being made today. He continues to tinker with his designs, and the chairs have evolved for the better, aesthetically as well as structurally. Photo: Albert R. Mooney
David Lamb
FWW #138 Lamb’s commissioned work has included faithful reproductions of complex 18th- and 19th-century furniture. He is a founding member of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association. Photo: Dean Powell, courtesy of New Hampshire Historical Society.
William S. Wooton
FWW #87 Wooten’s Patent Desks, built in the 19th century, were known as the king of desks. They have numerous storage compartments and a fold-down writing table. All of the moving parts close up so that the entire contents may be locked. Photo: Courtesy of Richard and Eileen Dubrow Antiques
Timothy Philbrick
FWW #110 Philbrick began his career restoring and reproducing 18th-century furniture. Much of his later work bears a strong link to the Art Deco Period. Photo: Courtesy Peter Joseph Gallery
Mary Nardo and Jon Mitguard
FWW #130 Nardo, a painter, and Mitguard, a woodworker, are business partners as well as husband and wife. Nardo’s designs, mostly in watercolor, are painted over Mitguard’s cabinets, usually made of quartersawn Douglas fir. Photo: Jay Daniel
John Dunnigan
FWW #41 The 15 coats of black lacquer give Dunnigan’s table a gleaming, bottomless finish. The top is purpleheart, and the pink feet are epoxy resin. Photo: Courtesy of John Dunnigan
Michael Fortune
FWW #30 Fortune is well-known as a teacher and furniture designer. The arms and legs are steam-bent; the back slats are laminated. Photo: David Allen
Craig Nutt
FWW #143 Nutt specializes in furniture and sculpture, whose inspiration seems rooted in the vegetable garden. The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian National Museum of Art purchased this functional salad bowl (the top comes off). Photo: John Lucas
Gary Rogowski
FWW #125 Rogowski’s rendition of a Greene and Greene sideboard includes a breadboard top, ebony plugs, and inlaid ginkgo leaves. The project was detailed over three issues (#125-#127). Photo: Jim Piper
Paul Harrell
FWW #107 Clean lines and well-balanced proportions mark this contemporary piece built with shop-sawn veneers. Harrell was able to get all of the veneer for the doors, the side panels, and the drawer fronts from one plank of jarrah, ensuring a good match. Photo: Sloan Howard
Ronald Layport
FWW #89 Layport said he had difficulty parting with this beautiful hutch, his first commission. He designed it based on pieces popular in middle America between 1730 and 1840. Photo: Chuck Fuhrer
Thomas Moser
FWW #128 Moser first advertised his rendition of the continuous-arm Windsor in New Yorker magazine. The marketing strategy worked very well for the former English teacher. Today, his furniture-making business employs more than 100 people. Photo: Zachary Gaulkin
Christian Becksvoort
FWW #110 Whether you prefer to call it a nightstand, reading lamp stand, candle stand, or round table, this classic Shaker piece was first built by a craftsman in Hancock, Mass., ca. 1830. Fine Woodworking Contributing Editor Becksvoort has built a successful woodworking business making furniture in the Shaker style. Photo: Robert Marsala
Hans Wegner
FWW #21. Wegner’s well-proportioned and comfortable chairs were instrumental in popularizing Danish furniture. His chairs are in major museum collections arou nd the world. Photo: Doug Long, Photocraft
Frank Pollaro
FWW #111 Pollaro has made a specialty of veneered work, and this sunburst table shows his mastery of the craft. The table was featured in an article that described how to match and cut veneers for different effects. Photo: Susan Kahn
Chad Voorhees
FWW #92 “I want my pieces to stand by themselves but not necessarily stand out, Voorhees wrote in 1992. This table incorporates Art Deco elements. Photo: Clay Algeo
Kristina Madsen
FWW #121 No one carves like Madsen, whose influences span the globe, from Europe to the South Pacific (she studied for a time in Fiji). The carvings on this chest are inspired by Victorian embroidery. Photo: Jonathan Binzen
Douglas Mooberry
FWW #124 Ornate spice boxes were used by early Pennsylvania settlers to house valuable keepsakes. The tombstone door hides from view numerous small drawers, each dovetailed and fitted to dividers. Photo: Anatole Burkin
Phil Lowe
FWW #113 Lowe, a frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking, specializes in 18th-century furniture. The posts on the footboard are reeded, a time-consuming task using a V-carving tool and gouges. Photo: Charley Robinson
Thomas Hugh Stangeland
FWW #106 Stangeland works in the Arts and Craft style particular to Greene and Greene. His armchair includes the classic Chinese brackets and ebony (actually Ebon-X, chemically altered walnut) detailing. Photo: Jonathan Binzen
Jere Osgood
FWW #6 Furniture by Osgood swoops and curves and makes one wonder how he gets the wood to follow his flowing designs. His bent laminations take the form to new levels. Photo: Courtesy of Jere Osgood
Walker Weed
WW #38 Weed was able to seamlessly combine the influences of George Nakashima, modern Scandinavian, and Shaker styles in his works. Photo: Jeffrey Nintzel
Wendell Castle
FWW #31 Although the name Wendell Castle may bring to mind flowing, sculptural works (such as his Dali-like molten clocks), he also designed furniture that looks more contemporary than surreal. Consistent, however, was an attention to detail and originality. Photo: Steven Sloman
John McAlister
FWW #129 The self-taught McAlister, an amateur woodworker, was 73 when he finished this impressive piece. His research included several trips to England to measure originals and to speak with curators and other period furniture makers. Photo: Pat Shankl
Peter Turner
FWW #139 If the Shakers had televisions, they might very well have built a piece like this. Turner’s case has room for audio and video equipment as well as storage for CDs and video cassettes. Photo: Michael Pekovich
Terry Moore
FWW #90 This contemporary piece has delicate, airy proportions and is meant for handwritten correspondence. But a laptop computer would not look out of place, either. Photo: Thomas Ames
David Upfill-Brown
FWW #94 One of Down Under’s most respected furniture makers, Upfill Brown recently became academic director of the new Australian School of Fine Furniture. Photo: Scott Donkin
Randall O’ Donnell
FWW #117 O’Donnell’s interpretation of a 1750 Massachusetts highboy has a blocked a pron, finials, arch cutouts, and shells. O’Donnell covered the building of the piece in a three-part series (# 117-#119). Photo: Boyd Hagen
Mike Dunbar
FWW #16 The Windsor chair dates back to the early 18th century and endures to this day, in no small part due to people such as Dunbar, who has made a business out of teaching others how to make it using mostly hand tools. Photo: Andrew Edgar
Gene Lehnert
FWW #101 The spindle-style Morris Chair, designed at the turn of the century by Gustav Stickley, is an enduring design. Craftsman-style furniture continues to be a favorite with readers of Fine Woodworking as well as with the public at large. Photo: William Sampson
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