Inlay is magical. It has long been a decorative part of furniture design used to enliven and embolden work that might otherwise appear too shy, quiet, or plain.

Join Gary for one of his rare in-person classes this year. This two week class will be held in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina at the revered craft center: Penland School of Craft.

Inlay carries a symbolic sense. It is a suggestion, a scent, the feeling of a flower, seed, or wing. It is impressionism made whole and set into wood. Students in this workshop will learn to use inlay as a visual and textural statement in their work.

First thing we will design inlay patterns for our sample boards. Then each student will build a small bookcase to use as a canvas for our raised, carved, and shaped inlay with lyrical, symbolic, or mathematical shapes.

Technical information will include hand and machine joinery, carving with chisels, planes, scrapers, files, and gouges. We will use inlay techniques involving the drill press, router templates, and router table. Inlay involves risk, skills are needed, and patience is a must, and this makes the pay-off of satisfaction, finishing, and the impact on your work that much greater. All levels are welcome.

Penland School of Craft is a national craft education center dedicated to the creative life. Located in the bucolic Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Penland offers one-, two-, and eight-week workshops. 

This is a rare in-person class with Gary, one of only two this year. Spend two weeks at Penland in the hills of N. Carolina learning some very cool techniques about building furniture and inlay work. 

Each morning there will be a series of talks about the creative experience, swimming against the culture of greed, and the value of Quality in our world today.