Mastery Programs

Resident Mastery Program 3 drawer chest bruce #de40 Chair Jason

Transform your woodworking. Transform your life by becoming a part of the Mastery Program.

In a world certifiably loud and brash, working at the bench with tools and wood provides a quiet satisfaction and solace. When many people struggle to find meaning or lasting value in the work that occupies them every day, building fine furniture offers results that will last a lifetime.

Signature 3 drawer table2Woodworking is a craft, a skill, and a tradition. It is as old as humankind and our ability to use tools.

Come and learn the art of building fine furniture. Our Mastery Programs will teach you time honored furniture making techniques while you develop your own signature design style. You will build up to nine pieces during the course of study. Learn to build the highest quality furniture in a program designed to suit your needs.

dovetail box open by #4735We urge students interested in our Mastery Programs to come and take a week long class with us. The Joinery Concentrations are a perfect introduction to the Studio, working with Gary, the travel issues you may face, and the effort required to be a Mastery student.

Please check our schedule of classes for the next Joinery Concentration.

Taking Your Brain for a Stroll

A,

Returning to our conversation on designing work, I want to say that I know how easy it is to avoid practicing being a designer. When learning any new skill that is difficult and doesn’t come naturally, we can find all sorts of good excuses not to [...] Continue Reading…

Running Through the Sprinkler

From a student:
I have jumped between many different styles (federal interpretation, contemporary, krenovian – if that’s a style) in the past year, I feel myself being drawn more and more towards the work of the mid-century modernists -the Scandanavians in particular. The simplicity, functionalism, craftsmanship, [...] Continue Reading…

Many Thanks!

My friends and colleagues and to those who after all this time just manage to speak to me at all:

I want to thank those of you who wrote letters of support for the Studio during our dance with the City of Portland over code issues. [...] Continue Reading…

You Don’t See It?

Some years ago, I worked in a large old building that had once been a furniture factory. It had been  converted mostly into a large empty space, but it also sported about a dozen small woodworking shops up on the second floor. It was a great old space if [...] Continue Reading…

Advice

I just reread Steve Jobs’ commencement address to the Stanford graduating class of 2005. Look it up. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. These are his final words of advice to the students. It is a wonderful speech about the value of failure, the incredible connections that can occur between disparate [...] Continue Reading…

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