About The Maker

Heather is a woodworker who designs and builds custom furniture and small housewares out of her wood shop in Greenfield, MA. She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College, The North Bennet Street School, and has 10+ years of experience working and learning throughout New England in woodworking. Her furniture is modern and contemporary, and has been described as elegant, vibrant, minimal and thoughtful. Above all, she is interested in making functional art objects that embody handmade quality and highlight the intrinsic beauty of wood. Her works are exhibited in stores and at fine art festivals around Western Massachusetts and beyond.

Values

• Trust. Building honest and valuable relationships with clients and local businesses is important to me. I see collaboration as fundamental to my work and I want clients to feel involved in the creative process.  

• Quality. I am committed to using only high quality lumber and building materials sourced from small suppliers in New England. I prefer to work with domestic hardwoods that are grown and harvested in the Northeast.

• Craftsmanship. When you get a chance to see and feel my work in person, I believe that it speaks for itself. I make furniture and wooden objects with excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail. I use both traditional and modern woodworking practices and learning new techniques is important to me.

• This Land. I acknowledge the sacred land where I live, work, make art and build community as the rightful homelands of the Abenaki, Pocumtuc, Nonotuck and Nipmuc Peoples, who have stewarded and tended this place for generations. I recognize the violent history of colonialism - the murder and displacement of whole communities, exploitation, cultural destruction and theft - at the hands of white settlers and sustained by the US government. I see that these and other indigenous communities are present and alive today, and I respect those whose lives and spirituality is tied to the land.

  As a white-bodied person, I understand that I have benefited from white supremacy and colonialism, and I am working to unlearn years of conditioning from the colonial mindset. I aim to support people who have been historically marginalized, specifically as they pursue a practice as makers, designers, artists, builders, and woodworkers.

The Creative Process

Inspiration

All projects start with an idea. My visual aesthetic is inspired by plants, patterns, symmetry, and famous artists and architects that I admire. Sometimes I’m inspired by learning new techniques that I haven’t tried before or by the modest proportions and delicate simplicity of antique furniture. Sometime’s I just need to find a creative solution for collections of items that pile up in my home. In my experience, finding inspiration is a process of getting to know yourself and being aware of your surroundings.

Collaboration + Feedback

Whether I’m designing a piece of furniture for a client or for my bedroom, I find that collaboration and feedback is a big part of the design process. What or who am I collaborating with? Sometimes a person, an idea, material or specific object. Being open to outside influence is important because it allows you to let go of your assumptions and expectations, and follow where the process wants to take you.

Drawings + Models

I make quick sketches in my notebook to capture the essence of an idea. Then, I'll go back and develop the drawings that really speak to me. I’ll make small-scale models or computer renderings to help me visualize the proportions and target any problems. This whole process helps me familiarize myself with measurements, materials, and building techniques before stepping into the machine room.

Materials

I source my wood from a few small lumber yards around New England, and I hand select every board for quality. I prefer to work with hardwoods that are grown and harvested in North America, preferably the Northeast. I try to avoid supporting big box companies, and instead source the majority of my materials from specialty woodworking stores, local hardware stores, and fine art stores.

Production

From my drawings, I make a cut-lists and building instructions that serve as my roadmap. Keeping in mind grain direction and overall aesthetics, the material is milled to the proper thickness, ripped to width and cut to length. From there, I begin cutting joinery, which can manifest itself in many ways: sawing, shaping, drilling, routing, chiseling, turning, etc. Components are then glued together and ready for finish.

Finish

Finishing is its own art-form and punishment. Time-consuming, challenging to perfect and easy to mess up. I give myself ample time for this process and sample products and techniques beforehand. The piece is prepped with delicate and thorough sanding, and finish is applied in multiple coats by hand, intermittent with more sanding between layers. Extreme care and attention is given throughout the entire design-build-finish process.