Squamish Valleycraft Interview
"From a young age I was always helping my dad tinkering in the garage, woodworking. I always really liked being creative and working with my hands. Doing custom woodwork full-time as my own creative business just clicked for me.
"A lot of people think woodwork takes away from the forest, but that's not the way I'm doing it. It's really important to me to have a sustainable practice. I love the forest. I always feel grounded and good when walking in the forest.
"My source for wood is an urban milling company, a couple of local guys. They will get a call if there's a tree that's down from natural causes; a storm or forest fire or disease. They'll get the log, slice it up, dry it and allow us woodworkers to use it. They save lots of beautiful wooden material this way, and provide for multiple businesses.
"Traditionally woodworkers needed a perfect cut piece; knots and cracks etc were considered imperfections. Epoxy allows you use those imperfect pieces, diverting them from the waste stream. Often those pieces have the most character anyway, the ones with the defects, as they used to call them. They're my favorite pieces to work with.
"My personal preference is to bring out the unique beauty in the natural wood. When I use epoxy sometimes it's to fill in areas, if there's a void or an area of rot, other times it's to incorporate a design or bring out a highlight. I personally like the epoxy to be an accent or highlight, and have the wood itself be 80% of the finish.
"Seed to Sky is partnered with One Tree Planted, which means that for each product that's purchased, a tree is planted. I'm inspired by nature; trees, especially. The science of the growth of trees is really interesting to me. From a slab you can see from the heartwood to the sapwood, all the different years, the differences of color and grain, and things like burls where no one knows what caused it. There's so much going on, and it varies from species to species. Design-wise, I Iike to combine the complexity of the wood with a minimalist, high-end aesthetic. Walking that line between the natural and the minimalist, the rustic and modern, is what I constantly aspire to achieve in the product."