James Stewart posted: " It's now 2 days into 2023 and time to do a quick reflection of the progress of my woodworking journey and any projects accomplished. As I started to think about what I accomplished this year I was going to comment that this year was a little bit lighter" Stewart Woodworks
It's now 2 days into 2023 and time to do a quick reflection of the progress of my woodworking journey and any projects accomplished. As I started to think about what I accomplished this year I was going to comment that this year was a little bit lighter on number of and variety of projects because I spent a bit more time on some big ones and then I did focus a bit on making multiples of a few smaller projects.
But as I looked at my progress I realized that I had a great woodworking year in terms of diversity of projects and I mixed in a few woodworking tourist stops, a bunch of individual classes, and I even got Leonie into the woodshop to start teaching her some skills and tool basics.
January - I started the year finishing the third of three Greene and Greene style end tables that I made with our second oldest Seaforth in a class we took in fall 2021 from an Instructor Reid Anderson at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking
January - I also had an opportunity to expand my workshop towards a window just outside the machine portion of the workshop with a bench I acquired from another woodworker in my club.
February - I then started my most ambitious project of the year. The same woodworker who I purchased the bench from had previously gifted me two unfinished Morris Chair projects that he had started but unfortunately could not finish due to declining health. The two unfinished projects had already made significant progress and roughly 80% of the joinery was already complete. A Morris chair is a fairly complex varsity woodworking project so it still took me another 4-5 months to complete these two chairs even with a tremendous head start.
March - For our spring break we decided to go to Asheville, N. Carolina and on the way we took the opportunity to stop at two amazing woodworking rich areas. On our way to Asheville we stopped at the Shaker Village south of Lexington, KY for one night. We stayed in the old dormitories that have been converted to lodging. The food, history and woodworking here is an amazing time capsule of early-mid 1800's Shaker culture.
When we finally made it to Asheville, we also stopped at an amazing hotel called the Omni Grove Inn which was made in the early 20th century and absolutely dripping in fantastic original and reproduction arts and crafts furniture.
March - When we returned in March I made some good progress on the Morris Chairs.
April - In April the calendar started at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking and I was able to start volunteering at several weekend classes. The first class I helped with was with Herman Bueno who was teaching Shaker Oval Boxes. One of my woodworking club friends Jerry Forshee was also helping so it was great fun. I had originally signed up for the class myself but it was full. Meanwhile Leonie and the girls were taking a chocolate making class so I just showed up to see if they needed any help and it was great to get invited to assist.
May - By May I had largely finished the Morris Chairs but I still had to make the seat frame, weave the webbing and commission an upholsterer to do the leather cushions.
May - May brought me another opportunity o assist at a class with my good friend Jerry Forshee who was teaching a simple Shaker style bedside table.
June - In June I took my first week - long course at Marc Adams with a fabulous wood sculptor Michael Cooper. We spent the whole week just bending wood in contortions. It was all technique, so we had lots of time to laugh, make friends and encourage each other's projects.
June - June also finally brought me to the finish of the Morris Chairs. I was recommended to an amazing upholsterer who helped me to really do a great job with the loose cushions.
June - By mid-summer I was also starting to practice my own hand at making small shaker boxes as potential Christmas Gifts. Leonie and I also celebrated our 30th Anniversary together!
July - My next week-long class this year was with Master carver Alexander Grabovetski. I've never spent a whole week just slowly carving a single board. But Alex was an amazing teacher and the flowers and acanthus leaves I made gave me an amazing appreciation for this part of the woodworking world.
July - By late summer I started designing my other large format project of the year. We still have our original master bedroom headboard from 30 years ago. It's always been my plan to make my own arts and crafts inspired headboard, and I finally was going to make the push to complete it this year.
August - Late summer is always an intensely busy time for me at work with construction projects that must complete before school starts. So I made slow but steady progress on the headboard joinery all summer and into the fall.
September - By the time fall started I was feeling good about the headboard frame, but still a bit stuck on how I was going to do the infill panels. Ultimately I decided to do wide panels of Ash as an accenting species to the white oak and I would stain them differently to create a contrast.
September - In September I assisted Jerry Forshee in another weekend class. This time it was in making a mortising jig.
October - Seaforth and I then took our annual weekend class together. This year we repeated with the same instructor from last year and took a class with Reid Anderson to make complementary Greene and Greene style mirrors.
October - In October I took my last class of the year with an amazing forth generation master woodworker Mark Headley who creates 18th century reproduction federal style furniture. Mark showed us how to make a document box with decorative details like inlays and a federal eagle in veneer.
November - By November after many months of vacillating over how I was going to add some visual interest to the panels of the headboard I finally decided to try my hand at some relief carving. It was a risk but I was very happy with the results.
December
December - By the end of the year I was mostly wrapping up projects and planning for next year. First I had been slowly working on Shaker boxes all summer and fall in my free time and by Christmas I had about 24 as select presents.
December - I was also able to finally give Rebecca her Federal Eagle box that I added partitions so she could use it as a jewelry box.
And Leonie and I even had an opportunity over several weekends to get into the shop so she could learn some tool basics by creating some picture frames.
And I spent the last weekend of the year creating a stand and organizer for a new sharpening system I received for Christmas.
Wow - another long summary, of a great year in the shop creating things that I hope the family will enjoy. I have a few priorities that will start to come forward in 2023 and I already have half a dozen weekend classes I'm interested in. 2023 should be another great year.
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