Artisan Reviews

Even though artisans come from all sorts of background and differ from one person to the next, they do have a few things in common. Artisans clearly are passionate about working with their hands and imagination; they all specialize in working with different types of material, which include, wood, aluminum, wicker and others. Many people believe that artisans are some of the hardest working people around.

This article depicts some experiences of a local artisan based in New York.

Meet self-taught local artisan Santiago; he’s a quiet and persuasive individual when getting his point across. He sometimes gets impatient when someone without experience in craftsmanship makes suggestions on how to approach or accomplish certain projects.

Prior to making wood furniture’s and patio furniture’s, Santiago used to work with a construction company on the Eastern part of Long Island during the nineties installing Formica counter tops. Even though
he made a great salary when he worked with this former employer, he doesn’t miss the hustle and bustle in getting up early 6 days a week to work.

Today, local artisan Santiago has his own successful part time business, where he design and make custom-made furniture’s from his garage. He has the ability and capability to produce masterpieces. Even though he operates his business part time, he acknowledges that he has enough work to make it a full time job. He’s has great talent and a zest for life; this artisan is considered a skilled craftsman by some of his peers.

His furniture’s are generally unique and different. He likes to combine different types of woods with certain projects, especially chairs. Some of his crafts take months to complete, due to his detailed work ethic. While most of his furniture’s are made to order, a few are built and put on display in his front yard on the weekends.

He often gets requests to remodel counter tops. After all, he stared out with counter-tops. Most of his clients are understanding and are patient; they know when he completes a project, it is breath taking. Unlike many other local artisans that work full-time, Santiago has no plans to work as a full time artisan any time soon; he’s comfortable with the position he’s in. He has been making in-door and patio furniture’s for more than 9 years and is very good at it.

Even though Santiago doesn’t consider him self an accomplished artisan, most of his satisfied customers do. Like many local artisans, Santiago doesn’t have his own website and has no plans to get one any time soon.

When asked about whom his target market was, he responded. “Target market?” Santiago explains that he doesn’t have to target
any specific market; “I already have enough satisfied customers and referrals.” However he mentioned that, “Most of my clients are the upper middle-class.” Being a part time local artisan, Santiago doesn’t believe he has to have a specific target market for his unique indoor and out door wood furniture’s. He’s satisfied with the jobs he gets from his repeat customers and their referrals.

Something New from Something Old--Redwood Wine Vats Become Patio Furniture

Something very unique in the way of handmade redwood furniture can be found at Vintage Redwood Company, located at 122 Green Oaks Drive in Visalia, California. All the furniture that owner and furniture maker Jim Simons builds is created using recycled redwood and oak wine vats which are at least 50 to 60 years old. Jim has been dismantling and recycling this great source of wood for over twenty years and turning it into all sorts of delightful furniture for your garden or patio.

Made of wood from the heart of the redwood trees as well as quarter-sawn oak, these wine vats are a treasure trove of vintage wood. The vats Jim recycles were originally used for aging wine, so throughout its working life, the wood has taken on a special coloring from the pigment in the grapes, giving it dark streaks and unique hues.

Each piece of furniture is lovingly and individually created in Jim Simon's unique style and then given a hand-rubbed natural finish for years of beautiful service. A new design is usually introduced every two to three years to keep the Vintage Redwood Company's line of patio furniture fresh for the consumer.

Have a look at Vintage Redwood's website at www.vintageredwoodcompany.com and see the wonderful variety of outdoor furniture they offer. Their 48-inch square patio table with its four matching benches can comfortably seat eight adults for outdoor dining. Add an optional built-in umbrella support which allows you to use a nine foot umbrella to keep off the hot summer sun. These items can be purchased separately as well as in a set. Also available are trestle style tables with matching benches.

Perhaps you don't want to eat outside but would rather just sit and enjoy the gentle breezes. In that case, you might prefer one of Jim's vintage-styled rocking chairs or garden benches. Add a side table or coffee table to create a total look for your outdoor area. Due to the high-quality redwood and oak used in their construction, all of these outdoor items are made to last years and destined to become family heirlooms. You can order by mail by printing out a form on their website or give Vintage Redwood Company a phone call at 559-733-5613 for more information or to order.

Look to Madera Furniture for Artisan Patio Furniture

Dean Stubbings, furniture-builder extraordinaire, offers a selection of functional, top quality, hand-made wood patio furniture at his Madera Furniture showroom at 1587 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Fairfax, California. For a sneak preview of some of what he creates, take a look at maderafurniture.blogspot.com. Read what Dean has to say about some of his pieces, but be sure to take a look at the many photos of his beautiful hand-created garden benches, chairs, and tables. Don't stop on the first page, either, be sure to follow the “next” click for even more designs.

All the Madera Furniture selections are made of locally salvaged wood, which Dean personally recycles into these wonderful pieces. By using recycled wood, the cutting of new wood is eliminated, thus making all Madera Furniture earth friendly. But it doesn't stop with recycling. All of this furniture is finished with award-winning Safecoat brand finishing products. Perfect for the “green” industry, Safecoat products are made of only environmentally-friendly ingredients with no toxic additives.

Dean Stubbings began designing and creating his artisan patio furniture in 1996. For supplies, he salvaged wood from dumpsters and purchased used wood from other building sources. As a carpenter, Dean has worked in home rebuilding and landscape design, and now uses his many talents to build one-of-a-kind built-to-order furniture items. As you'll see from his blog, the Madera Furniture patio creations include four foot and five foot garden benches, garden chairs, outdoor picnic tables with benches, small and large tables and rocking chairs. Mix or match for your personal outdoor environment needs. Of course, if you have a special design in mind or prefer a different size, Dean is more than qualified to build those as well.

Madera Furniture is open at their Fairfax, California, location Friday to Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and by appointment on Tuesday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you want to contact Madera Furniture's Dean Stubbings by phone, the number is 415-516-3567. For great quality, design, and workmanship at moderate prices, be sure to visit Madera Furniture.

Wood patio furniture is not unusual, but the type of wood patio furniture that Andrew Gardner of Thompson, PA makes is a bit different. This craftsman designs rustic outdoor furniture from the Bent Willow tree. His craft is exemplified in the name of his company, Gardner’s Willo’work.

Collecting the wood from willow trees growing along creeks and rivers, Gardner creates outdoor benches, chaise lounges, rockers, love seats, tables, and more. He calls Bent-Willow furniture the ancestor of today’s furniture, because it’s a very strong, lasting wood that also looks good. Although it is durable, it is also flexible, and does not tend to split when nailed.

All of Gardner’s furniture is hand- made, designed to be lived in yet also to last for generations. He views each piece of furniture as a part of the Willow tree, and feels that in this way, his furniture brings his customers closer to nature. He also says that he tests each piece of outdoor furniture that he makes, personally, by sitting on it.

Gardner says that the bark of the willow tree has been used for years as a homeopathic remedy. It contains salicin, the basis for salicylic acid which is used to make aspirin. He says that is why some say sitting in a bent willow chair helps arthritis.

Although some pieces of Gardner’s furniture might look like just a bunch of tree branches nailed together to make a chair, the process used to create this rustic furniture is very methodical. Gardner determines the length of each piece of willow used and how to nail it to the other pieces in a way to make the piece of furniture as strong as possible and still quite attractive. The arms of his chairs are built cane-by- cane to make sure that any stress that is placed on the chair is transferred across it uniformly.

Gardner’s work has been featured in the how-to book, “Simple Rustic Furniture,” by Dan Mack.

Gardner’s website, http://www.willowork.com, includes a slideshow displaying some of the furniture he has made, to give prospective customers an idea of his skill and talent. Because Gardner makes each piece for his customers as they order them, he doesn’t maintain an online or paper catalog. However, he does include a form on his website in which prospective customers can send him information on which kinds of furniture they are interested in and can email it to him or mail it or call him. He only places orders by mail and phone.

Gardner’s Willo’work is located in Thompson, PA, in Susquehanna County in the northeastern part of the state, about halfway between Binghamton, NY and Scranton, PA. He may be reached by email at info@willowork.com, by phone at (570) 727-3362, or by mail at P.O. Box 148, Thompson, PA 18465.

Brookbend Outdoor Furniture in Hopkinton, MA is unique in that its top designer is a former Ethan Allen executive. Irving Sabo ‘s furniture designs are the product of his 40 years of experience with two major furniture companies, which now helps him to create exclusive outdoor pieces for Brookbend that appeal to the selective customer.

Sabo, who was trained in architecture and fine arts, is a former sculptor whose mediums included wood, metals, and acrylics. He was once a boat builder, a talent which later lent itself well to furniture making. He became the highest paid designer in the history of Thomasville Furniture, then served as Vice President at Ethan Allen for 15 years. At Brookbend, Sabo has combined Mission style furniture with Scandinavian traits and even a little Asian influence to create a line of contemporary, smooth, comfortable, yet eye-catching outdoor furniture.

The owner of Brookbend Outdoor Furniture, Paul Marcus, says that during the first five years of the company, Brookbend’s furniture was only offered in cedar. Because teak wood tends to outlast other types of wood used in outdoor pieces, the company chose to add a line of teak furniture to its offerings. Brookbend designs, markets, and sells all of its own furniture, which gives them the option to create it in whatever wood they want, Marcus explains. Marcus believes that this provides more choices of quality for customers, and also allows them to match new pieces from Brookbend to outdoor pieces they already own. Brookbend’s teak furniture costs about double what its cedar furniture costs. He says that because of its cost, many buyers tend to purchase teak furniture as a gift for someone, while buying the cheaper cedar furniture for their own use.

One of Brookbend’s more unique and newer pieces is its multi-purpose Storage Buffet Box. These outdoor storage boxes feature top lids that break apart into separate pieces and plastic tubs that fit into the frame of the box to be used to chill food or beverages. The boxes are patented and are offered in six different sizes for customers’ needs. The boxes are also offered in cedar, for about $900 for the largest one, and teak, in which the largest box costs $1500. Smaller boxes in cedar retail for about $350 and in teak for $1300.

Designer Sabo received the High Point Pinnacle Award in 1998. Brookbend Outdoor Furniture has also been featured in The New York Times.
Prospective buyers can view Brookbend’s online showroom at http://www.brookbend.com. Furniture can be purchased online, or customers can order a paper catalog through the website to be mailed to them. Brookbend will ship its outdoor furniture anywhere in the United States. For more information, Brookbend can also be contacted via email at brookbend@comcast.net or by phone at (877)204-6986.