- Mike Morris handmade spoons and spatulas from oak wine barrels.
“As a family we farmed 1,250 acres of crop land in the beautiful Willamette Valley. I am now retired and have left behind as a thank you to the land, 70 acres of wetlands for wildlife and native plant habitat, now managed by the US Dept.of Fish and Wildlife. My hobbies include traveling, hunting, fishing, both lakes and ocean, and camping, with a recent hobby of carving. The carving started around the camp fires with some crude looking spoons. I still carve around camp fires but products are finished in my shop and include multiple species of wood. Living in “Wine Country” I started experimenting with cycled out wine barrels and the results is what you see today.”–Mike Morris
2. And, too, from Daniel Harris by hand.
“Turning wood that has been recently cut down requires special care in order for the wood to end up in its intended state. For bowls, the fresh-cut wood (green wood), is rough turned to an approximate shape. The rough turned bowl is then coated with a wax emulsion and left to dry before final turning is done. Daniel’s latest skill is turning hollow form bowls and vases.” –Daniel Harris
Daniel’s plans for a hobby during retirement was to do wood carving, both large and small-scale, but he lost vision in the left eye due to a macular hole. A neighbor who was a very accomplished wood-turner suggested that Daniel try wood-turning. Daniel devised a technique to also embellish the turnings with colored textures. He has completed commissioned work such as turning table legs to restore a 1920’s desk and decorative replica finials for a 1930’s 4 post bed with missing finials.
3. Fondly from Brownie’s workshop by hand.
Mike Brown is a native of the Pacific Northwest. He likes to express himself building works of art with different mediums using glass and exotic hard woods.
During his school days he took all different types of shop classes including various crafts, leather work, and metal but didn’t start working with wood until he started working at a glass shop at the age of 15 ½. His first boss, Doyle Clapper, was his mentor and shared with Mike his love of woodworking along with giving Mike a broad knowledge of all aspects of construction.
Mike retired and finally could pursue his passion for woodworking fulltime. He started creating exotic wood intarsia pictures, taking classes from Judy Gale Roberts, a premier intarsia artist. He won multiple Best of Show awards at the annual Artistry in Wood juried shows.
Take away: Fairweather House and Gallery wood workers are selected for their philosophy that the only thing better than repurposed, reclaimed or reinvented is to make something that is one-of-a-kind, pieces that never need to be recycled but enjoyed as being handmade.
