Handmade/Mindmade

Chest of Drawers

Chest of Drawers in Cherry by Ben Cooper

Madrone Display Cabinet on Stand

Madrone Display Cabinet on Stand by Henery Hewitt

Walnut Desk

Walnut Desk with Tambours by Jake Hockel

'Cahoots'

'Cahoots' - Beech folding bank desk by Max Kaplan

Coffee Table

Coffee Table with parquetry by Tim Lundholm

'No Doilies' - high table

'No Doilies' Black Locust High Table by James Meinders

Joshua grew up in Cincinnati, exploring the woods and creeks, camping, and hiking. The son of a sculptor and an engineer, he grew up with tools in his hands, "reverse engineering" his models, remote control cars, and toys, always investigating the way things work. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati, School of DAAP, with a BS in Industrial Design. After a winding path taking him through jobs doing design consulting, teaching drawing and pottery, to building rock climbing gyms, he began doing custom finishing work on residences. This evolved to designing furniture for these spaces. Joshua is attracted to the way furniture relates to the human form, both in a piece's finished state, as well as the process- most work can take place on a bench, and a project taking up to 3 months (a season) resonates with the natural cycles around us- and those that created the trees in the first place. Joshua endeavors to showcase the natural qualities and details of the wood, bringing out the story inherent in the wood. The design of a piece is informed by this, and decisions of structure and proportion are made with these "imperfections" in mind.

Jessica Osserman

Jess comes to CR from the dirty streets of Brooklyn, via the calm waterways of Seattle. Her interest in woodworking was sparked from her quest for self-sufficiency and her meandering career path through architecture, landscape architecture, community design/build, public art, growing food, and finally, furniture making. Her goal is to design what she makes and make what she designs, in the mundane as well as the metaphorical sense. To find a balance between the world of ideas and physical forms; to live life with intention and still delight in the unexpected results.

Christopher Moore

Christopher grew up in western Massachusetts and moved to the California Bay Area in the early 1990′s. He has worked in a number of fields, from positions as an aircraft electrician in the Navy and flight instrument mechanic for a commercial airline to jobs in technical editing and translation while living in Japan. Prior to enrolling in the fine woodworking program, his interests in woodworking involved a range of small-scale projects using primarily hand tools as well as classical guitar building. His goals while enrolled in the fine woodworking program are to learn and refine the specialized skills required for making fine furniture and begin developing a personal sensibility and style as a foundation for future work as a mature furniture maker.

Casey Moffitt

My desire to make furniture came from dabbling in “this and that” but always working with my hands. One day I realized I might like to make objects from wood, and since that day (I couldn’t tell you when that was) I’ve strived to meet that goal. Early on I began to realize a shortage of quality furniture items in peoples lives, I’d like to contribute to turning that around.
What attracted me to the Fine Woodworking program at College of The Redwoods was the programs straight forward approach to furniture making, the incomparably high level of workmanship that adorns the work of CR’s students and faculty, and the tradition that the program stems from and continues with to this day.

James Meinders

Hailing from Iowa, James was first introduced to 'fine' woodworking while building boyscout pinewood derby cars with his dad. His woodworking career was alomost cut short by the tragedy of his prized gun cabinet being converted into a china cabinet, but he bounced back; and today he enjoys making furniture emphasizing function, beauty, durability and his own style of angular shapes.

Tobyn McCormick

Tobyn currently lives in Ft. Bragg, California with his woodworking wife Sarah. Nestled in the community and the natural beauty of the lost coast, they seek to create designs that elevate every day items to subtle objects of beauty through fine craftsmanship and the inherent loveliness of wood. Their dream is to make these items obtainable by any one with the desire without compromising quality.

Albert Martini

Al grew up in New Jersey and Vermont, relocating to the Bay Area with his wife in 2010. After veering from the good path, he decided to return to woodworking in 2013 by spending a year at CR. His wife, Jenna and he are moving to California's Central Coast area after school for the foreseeable future. Al intends on continuing to work in the field, taking private commissions and being available for for shop or site work.

Douglas Mackay

Doug is from Montréal, Canada. He believes that woodworking offers an alternative to the hyper-specialization and reductionism of our busy lives, by helping us connect with the important things in life.

Tim Lundholm

Born in Sacramento, Tim went to school in Chico, California and Eugene, Oregon. Before coming to CR, he worked in Portland, Oregon for twelve years in custom reclaimed wood and steel work as well as artwork.

Chen Lekach

I came to this wonderful place from far away israel in the middle east.
I am 33, married, and we have two-year old son. We packed all that and came to seek knowledge in fine woodworking.
I have my own workshop back home and I have been making furniture for living in the past nine years.
Going to study is a way for me to pay more respect to a craft I love so much, that fed me and my family for many years , and a craft that makes me happy man. This deeper knowledge, in a field so vast, is exciting for the mind, and I’m sure my hands will also remember what they learned here for many many years.

Max Kaplan

Max comes to the program after receiving his bachelors of arts with honors in Comparative Design Studies at Pitzer College. His research in “Knowledge Flows Of Sustainable Construction in Ghana” strongly influences his understanding of production and material usage.
“Without mingling of heart-passion with hand-power, no art is possible”
– Ruskin 1858
While intellectually stimulated by design, the “hands on” approach has consumed Max’s life. Beginning as a studio potter, Max found himself working though a variety of media. His projects have included work in farming, bicycle mechanics and, of course, wood.
Born in West Virginia and raised in the Chicago area, he hopes to take what he learns from the Program and apply it not only to his personal practice but also to his approach and involvement with future endeavors.

Jake Hockel

Jake comes to the CR Fine Woodworking program from Philadelphia Pennsylvania with a background in music and film. He is in his second year of study.

Henery Hewitt

I was raised in Southern California, and arrived here, in Mendocino County via Utah, Maryland, and Texas. I am a retired telecom engineer, thirty-plus years in that field. The last twenty years I have made some furniture, a few chairs, boxes, and small items for friends and family, when time and climate permitted. Upon retirement, we looked for a cooler and more stimulating environment to settle in, and ended up in Albion, California, just south of Fort Bragg. My interest in woodworking started in the ’70′s after seeing James Krenov’s first book, but didn’t become action until the ’90′s. I have attended a couple of summer classes here at the school, and, at encouragement from friends and family, applied for the nine month program. The summer classes and this program far exceed any expectations I may have had.

Garrett Grantham

Garrett Young Grantham grew up in Fair Oaks, California. From a young age he showed interest in construction and architecture. At the age of eleven his father and a friend of the family showed him the basics of rough woodworking -- and he immediately fell in love with the craft. Once in high school he took wood shop all four years, developing his skills and becoming lead student in the shop. Garrett also won the California State Fair for woodworking his senior year. After high school he worked at a local lumber yard which added to his knowledge of woods and heavy machinery. After a year working at the lumber yard he was ready to move on to the next challenge -- attending the College of the Redwoods fine woodworking program in Northern California. With the help of the amazing instructors he further honed his fine woodworking and design skills. From CR he will move on to the American College of the Building Arts in Charleston, South Carolina where he will seek a B.A in old world architecture. Garrett's goal is to become a master woodworker.

Ben Cooper

Ben Cooper grew up outside of Sonora Ca. He discovered the Krenov school while avoiding studying environmental science at Humboldt State.

Marc Balentine

Marc Balentine grew up in the Washington, DC area where he taught himself to draw and craft as a boy, but it was his first job as a trim carpenter that marked the beginning of his journey into woodworking. Eventually he found work as an apprentice for a custom cabinetry and furniture company, L&D Woodworking/DC Chairmaker, Inc; he attributes his love of furniture work to his time spent working there in the co-operative with North Bennet Street and RSDI alumnus.

Justin Danger

Daniel Cerreta

Daniel Zenefski

Fine Furniture Exhibition Emerges from the California Lost Coast

This May, the craftspeople from the College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking program will be emerging from the wooded seclusion of the North Coast to let the entire Bay Area in on one of furniture making’s best-kept secrets. For over 30 years the school has quietly been shaping students into some of the finest furniture makers in the country. People come from all over the world to attend this intensive, nine hour a day, six day a week program, spending nine months in the small town of Fort Bragg obsessively dedicating themselves to quality and sensitivity in craft through the curriculum and values established by James Krenov. The program receives little in the way of fanfare or exposure outside of Mendocino County although it is well-known in the woodworking community. At last summer’s Association of Woodworking and Furnishing Suppliers national convention in Las Vegas, students from the program won every category they entered in the AWFS Fresh Wood competition, in what Woodworker West magazine described as “a sweep.” Students from the program think it’s high time to let more people in on their well-kept secret. They believe the best way to do this is to let their work speak for itself. From May 23rd through May 31st students from the program will host Handmade/Mindmade at the Dogpatch Café and Gallery, 2295 3rd Street in San Francisco with an opening reception on Friday May 23rd from 6 to 8pm. The work on display will be offered for sale. Actor, writer, and woodworker Nick Offerman, widely known for his role as Ron Swanson in the acclaimed NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation, describes furniture from the CR Fine Woodworking program as "a charismatic throwback to the days when hand-crafted quality commanded the respect it deserves, both for its practical strength as well as its enduring beauty. We could use a great many more golden American craftspeople such as them." Handmade/Mindmade Fine Furniture Exhibition Dogpatch Café and Gallery 2295 3rd Street San Francisco, CA 94107 Open daily May 23 through May 31, 9 AM to 6 PM Reception May 23 6-8 PM More information on the exhibition is available at www.handmademindmade.com or by calling Program Director, Laura Mays at 707-367-2285.

Show in progress

Furniture on Exhibit

Below is the online catalog of works currently showing at our pop-up exhibition at Dogpatch Cafe & Gallery.

Most of these works are for sale at the show, and the makers are available for commissions. Please contact info@handmademindmade.com for more details.

Directions to the Gallery

Dogpatch Cafe & Gallery is located at:

2295 3rd St

San Francisco, CA

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Fine Woodworking Program

All the work in Handmade/Mindmade was made by students on the nine-month Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg.

The Program is designed for the aspiring cabinetmaker who hopes to combine sensitivity with personal expression, patiently striving toward a goal best described as fine craftsmanship. We view craftsmanship as our legacy from woodworkers who have striven toward consistent excellence, which is perhaps the best definition of the word quality. Our efforts toward this goal have been recognized by the woodworking community around the world.

The Program is taught by Laura Mays, Jim Budlong, Greg Smith, Ejler Hjorth-Westh and David Welter and runs from mid-August through mid-May. In addition, workshops lasting a few days or weeks are offered in the summer. Applications to the Program are officially accepted through the month of March, but we welcome visitors throughout the school year. To see finished work the best time to visit is the first week in February (when we have a show at the Town Hall in Fort Bragg) or the first week in May.

For more information see our website:
crfinefurniture.com
Tel: 707 964 7056
Email: woodshop@mcn.org
Our new Facebook page!

A pop-up show of work
from the students of the Fine Woodworking Program
College of the Redwoods 2014

DOGPATCH CAFE AND GALLERY
2295 3rd STREET, SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107

FRIDAY MAY 23rd - SATURDAY MAY 31st
OPEN DAILY 9-6

OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY MAY 23rd, 6-8pm

This year select items in our show will be available through online AUCTION. Please follow the link to see the amazing offers for singular fine furniture.