Julie’s artistry and craftsmanship awarded at Maine Wood 2024

February 5, 2024

**The award winner:** Walnut vessel with crushed mussel shell inlay.

Last fall Julie happened upon the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship’s call for entries for Maine Wood 2024, their once-every-two-year show to recognize Maine makers from all genres in artistic woodworking. The school’s Messler Gallery has exhibitions of faculty and student work throughout the year, but this is the show local makers wait two long years for and can only hope that their work is selected to be included on the list of just 24 exhibitors.

Okay, long story short: Julie submitted photos of her latest piece (she didn’t think it was worthy enough—now way, no how), she was notified that her piece was selected (I had to help her up from the floor), and her piece won TWO AWARDS at the opening reception (she’s still grinning ear to ear). She was recognized as “Best New Maker” by the show’s guest jurors and reception-goers submitted names in a ballot box and selected her piece as a co-winner (a tie) for the “People’s Choice” award. Out of eight awards presented, Julie held two of them in her hands. We had a great time meeting and chatting with so many interesting people. Congrats to all the exhibitors!

See Julie’s work here

Just a few of the other amazing entries.

AVAILABLE – **$2950,** five feet long, 60” x 15” x 3.5” sperm whale, antiqued black, tail down, Douglas Fir

‘Maine Coast Whales’ — Hand-carved, wooden classics from Nutmegger Workshop

February 1, 2024

We now offer hand-carved, half-dimensional, wall-hung carvings that celebrate the wonder and grace of these magnificent creatures. We are certain that our engaging whales will add unforgettable character to your space with a captivating air of reverence, detailed craftsmanship, and timeless finishes. Please have a look and feel free to inquire about a custom whale carving or one of our offerings listed here as “available.”

Dozens of sketches are drawn before one is selected for carving.

inspiration found

As a native New Englander, whaling folklore leaves me spellbound.

The legendary and long-misunderstood sperm whale is deeply woven into New England’s history. These whales bewitch imaginations as much today as in the 1800s when the whaling industry had its hypnotic grip on brave souls lured to the farthest reaches of our seas. The hunt ensued for 200 years while this whale’s coveted oil illuminated the world’s cities and rural countryside. It lubricated the machinery of the industrial age before Pennsylvania crude oil was discovered in 1859, ending the whaling industry and its harrowing way of life in the blink of an eye. Ever since, art, literature, and motion pictures have depicted harpooned whales thrashing and crushing whale boats and helpless men, transporting us back to this fateful era with the grisly tale of the whaleship Essex and Melville’s epic Moby Dick.

Today, the sperm whale — and all whale species — are being studied like never before and for much better reasons, but their fight for survival continues. Due to warming seas, feeding and breeding grounds that whales have traditionally used for millennia may disappear. Fatalities from ship strikes, plastics ingestion, fishing nets, and illegal hunting are most species’ main causes of population decline. Emerging technologies to protect whales from human harm hope to increase healthy whale populations across the planet in those farthest reaches of our seas, where they were ruthlessly hunted for profit centuries ago.

AVAILABLE – **$2400**, four feet long, 48" x 14 x 3.5" sperm whale, antiqued white, tail down, Douglas Fir

AVAILABLE – **$2250**, four feet long, 48" x 13" x 3.5" sperm whale, dark warm gray, tail down, Douglas Fir

SOLD – **$4200,** antiqued gold patina sperm whale, 5 feet long (60”x19”x3.5”), Alaskan yellow cedar (for exterior use)

SOLD – **$3800**, weathered black sperm whale, 6 feet long (72”x 20” x 3.5”), Douglas Fir

SOLD – 60” x 18” Fictional weather-beaten whale sign, perfect for that room with the view of the Atlantic. Pine.

SOLD – Sperm whale, 43” x 10”, Douglas Fir

AVAILABLE – **$495 –** Folk-art style sperm whale with painted-on teeth, simply carved. Harpswell, Maine, Est. 1758, 48”x 11” x 1.5”. Pine. Where’s your favorite getaway?

AVAILABLE –**$2,150 –** 21-toothed, antique weathered gold sperm whale, 58” long, 3.25” thick. Pine.

SOLD – Black sperm whale, 48” x 15” x 3.5”, Pine

SOLD – Black sperm whale historical house marker. 76” x 20”, Fir. **Click here to see installed on house**

SOLD – Custom order, Gloucester, 1623. 40” long. Spruce.

SOLD – 30”x8” dark gray sperm whale, our smallest and most delicate yet. Perfect for above a doorway, in an entryway, anywhere. Reclaimed cedar.

SOLD – Sperm Whale, Harpswell, Maine, Est. 1758, 60” long, Pine

SOLD – Antiqued black sperm whale, 24”x 9”, Antique Pine. Small enough to fit above a doorway.

SOLD – Antiqued black sperm whale, dark gray, 60” x 16”, Pine.

SOLD – 37” x 27” white Sperm whale, Pine.

SOLD – Folk art black sperm whale, mouth open wide with a full two rows of teeth. 36”x15”, Pine.

SOLD - Antiqued black sperm whale. Pine, 36” x 10”

SOLD – Fictional salvaged sperm whale sign, 48” x 13”, Pine

SOLD – Light gray sperm whale, 36”, pine.

SOLD – Rustic Sperm whale, 5’ long, 3.5” thick. Pine.

SOLD — Antiqued black sperm whale. Pine, 40” x 10”

SOLD – Weathered gold Sperm whale, pine, 44”

SOLD – Monstro, 5’ long, old-growth cedar sperm whale

SOLD – Weathered gold sperm whale, 42” long. 1.5” thick. Pine

Folk art sperm whale, Pine, 5’ long, 3.5” thick. Below: weathered gold sperm whale, 42” long. 1.5” thick, Pine — SOLD – Folk art sperm whale, pine, 5’ long, 3.5” thick.

Live a quiet life and work with your hands

January 16, 2024

As a kid, I built wooden airplane models, scrapwood forts in the woods behind the house, and woodworking projects with my father. My parents quickly saw my need for more structured creative outlets so they enrolled me in a sculpture class at 12 years old. I soon learned how to draw and paint and hand-letter. I learned how to pitch baseballs and juggle, made Christmas wreaths, painted houses during college, and started working at drafting tables and computers designing books, magazines, signage, logos, and advertising. In my free time, I repaired and refinished antiques and designed and built furniture. Somewhere along the way, I combined my love for graphic design, woodworking, and antiques and began creating original, salvage-inspired sign art to hang in our home — and it wasn’t long before I started commissioning work for others.

As a homeowner (we are in our seventh house), there have been countless, self-taught projects requiring my hands; including framing and drywalling, old-school window glazing, custom built-ins, handmade cabinetry for bedrooms, bathrooms, and home offices, garden fences and arbors for climbing roses, tree pruning (arguably the truest test of one’s design sense) and lending my hands in the garden at the direction of my artistic wife Julie. And now, fifty-plus years after that first sculpture class, I am carving whales — very large whales — and this will keep my hands busy for a while.

My hands are usually a mess and now arthritis is setting in. I can’t get my favorite rings on my fingers anymore and my wedding band is a permanent fixture. But it has all been so worth it, as it is through my hands that life is so thoroughly enjoyed.

Sperm whale made from old cedar boards

July 16, 2021

This five-foot long whale was made from three 18” x 60” old-growth cedar boards I’ve been moving around the country for nearly 20 years. They made up an old six-board firewood chest that was left behind when we bought our 1927 Portland, Ore. house and I couldn’t leave them behind when we moved. This whale was the reason why I hung on to those boards — I just never realized it.

Upping our game

April 20, 2021

This latest challenge was really all about making something out of wood and passing it off as rusty metal. I don’t know metalworking, so when the request came in for this retro sign reproduction, it took several nights of tossing and turning to plan this out in my head. There are custom sign artists out there who work only in metal and make the coolest, electrified old-time signage. So, after a few more sleepless nights I finally accepted the job and felt ready for the challenge to create a believable metal sign reproduction — made from wood.

I immediately talked with a previous customer who is an historical diorama maker who can rust out a model locomotive or army tank like nobody’s business. He told me what to search for online and I found videos demonstrating several rust techniques. Though his museum-quality rusty models are typically no bigger than a common brick, the same principles apply to a seven-foot sheet of cabinet-grade plywood. The results were amazingly realistic, but without a doubt, the coolest thing about this sign is that it lights up! A friend (and former NASA electrician) offered to wire the arrow for me and I’m thinking this sign could probably orbit the moon!

Read this sign’s story here

That’s a wrap!

December 18, 2020

A photographer friend, Arturo Olmos, recently purchased one of Julie’s bowls. He also is on assignment with AARP shooting Gen-exers getting creative during the pandemic and thought Julie would be perfect for their social media series. The series includes all types of people including a doctor who has changed the way she runs her practice and now a career educator who has taken up wood turning! Here are a few pics I took while they were shooting, and below are links to the final posts. Happy holidays all!

Vessel A video by Arturo Olmos
AARP Instagram post
AARP bonus post
Laguna Tools post
Arturo Olmos Photography Photoshoot

A turn for the better in the workshop!

July 21, 2020

Sign making isn’t the only thing happening in the workshop these days. My wife Julie has finally found her groove turning beautiful bowls on her lathe (she’s only been at it for a few weeks!) after years of dabbling in pen turning, a skill she learned from her father years ago to help her relax and escape the pressures of her career. Julie is a type-A workaholic who has worn many hats in education as a teacher, school principal, college professor, associate dean, and school superintendent who NEVER, EVER had any quality alone time to explore her creative side. A new job has allowed her to spend more time pursuing right-brain interests and she is loving it. Lately, she’s been rockin’ it out in the shop turning out a bowl a day, teaching herself through trial and error, experiencing beginner’s mishaps, watching online videos, and letting her artistic instincts take over.

1920s-era Audels Carpenters and Builders Guide

1920s Audel’s Carpenters and Builders Guide

July 1, 2020

“By hammer and hand
all things do stand.”
– From the title page

I am proud to own a set of “Audel’s Guides to the Building Trades,” another thoughtful gift from my beautiful wife. She found them buried in the back of a tiny antique shop in Alvin, Tex. where the shopkeeper kindly discounted the price due to a mismatched Volume Two. This pocket sized, encyclopedia-like series was first published in 1923 and is filled with EVERYTHING needed to explain the art of carpentry and construction, and it does so with a sends-you-back-in-time, 1920s vernacular. The 1,600-page set reviews tools, methods of measuring, construction know-how, the dos and don’ts of project execution, wood shrinkage, and even lessons in the geometry and trigonometry (uh, no thanks) used in house framing. Unless you actually need to bone up on a particular subject, reading for comprehension will make your head spin. As a graphic designer, I’m in awe at the production work that went in to these books—the old-school illustrations alone are incredible—and I totally nerd-out on the 100-year-old aesthetics of worn covers, gold foiled spines, and yellowed, musty pages.

Why working with our hands gives us meaning

June 3, 2020

“Making things with our hands centers us. The simple act of doing it—of getting lost in it, of shutting everything out until we look up again and realize time has passed—is as close as some of us ever get to that feeling of inner peace.”

From “A Craftsman’s Legacy—Why Working With Our Hands Gives Us Meaning” by Eric Gorges, 2019, Algonquin Books.

Amen, brother! This passage pretty much nails it, as do countless other passages in this book gifted to me by my wife, Julie. Craftsmen of all persuasions explain why working with their hands gives their lives purpose. I wondered why I felt the need to be in the workshop. I’m happier when I’m out there working with my hands, but why is that?

I have a need to work through creative challenges on a daily basis. Seriously, no sitting idle here. When I’m deep into a project in the workshop, I get lost for hours on end. So much so, that I too detach from everything else around me, and it is in this realm—this state of mind—where I reconfirm one of my steadfast truths: I am meant to work with my hands. I can feel it deep in my bones.

What is this when you get so lost in something, lose sense of time, and feel incredibly centered? This phenomenon is known as “flow.” Mihaly Csikszentmihaly’s book “Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience” (Harper Perennial, 1990) digs deep into this centuries-old curiosity and is the definitive research on these experiences that seem to make all the difference in our lives. I read this book 20 years ago and I connected with it immediately — it was a total game-changer in how I choose to spend my time.

Author Eric Gorges tells a gripping story about how he walked away from his soul-crushing corporate career after a spiraling crisis of depression and self doubt led him to the brink of death, an experience that changed him forever. My takeaway was pretty straight forward: Life is short. Listen to your gut, find your calling, and live it.

Related post here

Seeking refuge in the workshop

March 21, 2020

I’m not sure what other people are doing to cope with our pandemic reality, but escaping to the workshop as often as possible is my elixir. Making sawdust or simply surrounding myself with the tools that enable creativity is my surefire way to rise above the gloom. Throw in a cold beer, a stool, my favorite playlist, and the experience gets even better. Occasionally my wife will join me to help organize, find room for something we’ve both been tripping over, or to lose herself on her lathe, honing woodturning skills she learned from her dad many years ago.

I took some photos after a day of organizing and pushing the broom way more than needed (best therapy ever). This little workshop never looked so clean. Enjoy the photos (click to enlarge), and stay home and stay safe.

Related posts about previous shop spaces:
Six workshops later
The whole garage thing

Inspiration: Sixty minutes with Louise Fili

December 13, 2019

Screen+Shot+2015-07-08+at+1-1.19.50+PM.png

Recently, I had a generous, 60-plus-minute, one-on-one, wide-ranging conversation with Louise Fili, legendary graphic design pioneer, industry icon, and fellow vintage lettering and trade sign aficionado. I let her know I was going to be in the City and she agreed to meet with me (we had briefly met a few years ago). I visited with her in the Gramercy neighborhood of Manhattan—East 23rd Street and 2nd Avenue to be exact—eighth floor, in her studio, in her conference room, with her undivided attention. Someone pinch me.

I’ve followed Louise’s work for years, know her history, and have read or listened to all of her online process and retrospective interviews, so I certainly wasn’t there to ask her more questions. No agenda here, I just wanted to talk. We immediately found common ground by lamenting over old-school graphic production memories of hand-set metal type, composing sticks, California job cases, letterpresses, chase lockups, and rubber cement and waxers. So great! Then we discussed the mind-blowing creative power of today’s design software, what inspires me, what I use for reference, the Nutmegger Workshop website (she likes the new logo!), how I make dome-shaped signs, copyright infringement, the creative challenges of her LF monogram, my current projects and her current projects. We then drilled down into more personal things including raising a family while trying to build a career, the interests of my wife and kids, jazz and opera singing, and Louise’s need to always live within walking distance from her studio.

As we finished up, Louise gave me a tour of her bright studio space which has a lovely view of the Empire State building, and introduced me to her two young designers, Matt and Andy, who, no doubt, are keenly aware of how lucky they are to be working for her. And, she explained that if she were to knock down a dozen walls behind her studio she would be face to face with her husband, acclaimed design writer Steve Heller, who keeps an office in the adjacent building at the School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC).

Louise is approachable, funny, inspirational, a great listener, incredibly gracious, and her warm smile could melt an iceberg.

Links:
Louise Fili
Louise Fili 30-years
Steven Heller
The Daily Heller PRINT Magazine’s Nutmegger Workshop Q&A
Related journal post

Inspiration: Manhattan

December 9, 2019

For me, New York city is all about the architectural details, from the huge and overwhelming, to the small and totally forgotten. The city’s lost, hidden pockets speak to me as much as its towering icons. After three frigid days of walking the city (and after 25-years since my last visit), I hardly took my phone out to take photos. Way too cold. I found myself appreciating everything with no distractions. Old-school sightseeing, if you will, and it felt great. However, as always, I did manage to find a few compelling locations worth capturing.

Screen Shot 2019-09-23 at 8.03.56 PM.png

Nutmegger Workshop whale carving

Whale carving

September 7, 2019

Fifty years ago, my father and I cut a simple whale out of an old pine board and hung it above our garage door; a curved tail, an open mouth, and a carefully positioned knot for the eye. A quick once-over with a wood rasp to round over the edges and it was finished. No stain. My father wanted it to turn gray with age. I still have that whale (inset).

Time to make another whale 50 years later! Classic sperm whale carvings are much like what you’d see mounted atop a weathervane or in century-old illustrations; a static, side profile. I wanted this whale to have as much movement as possible. I researched photos of swimming sperm whales, got out the sketchbook, and the final results exceeded my expectations. This whale is large at 44” wide and made from 1 1/2” thick hardwood.

A picture is worth a thousand crabs

June 18, 2019

One of my all-time favorite photos. While living in Oregon, I worked for many years as news designer for the award-winning Portand Tribune newspaper and designed hundreds of front pages using unbelievable shots like this. Nothing beats compelling photography to support well-written reporting. Veteran photojournalist L.E. Baskow shot this while on assignment for a story about Oregon’s crabbing industry—Dungeness crabs to be exact. Here’s hoping L.E. had a pair of those rubber boots on!

Right: We did go crabbing (first time) with friends on the Oregon coast years ago and brought in this modest haul. We ate them all that same night around a campfire.

Antique workbench craze

April 8, 2019

Antique workbenches are popular with interior designers who buy them up to use as rustic accent pieces or functional pieces like hallway tables, computer desks and bars. We recently saw these classics at an antique festival in Round Top, Texas where they were selling for $1,000 and up. My father-in-law Terry and I built our own Swedish woodworking benches 25 years ago, his was solid oak, mine was maple. We took a bench-building class together and followed the plans to the letter. The results were massive, sturdy pieces that if thrown off the back of a moving truck they would most likely tumble a few times and land upright without a scratch. I’ll have my bench forever, no doubt, but my current shop space can’t handle its size. Rather than putting it in storage, my wife confiscated it to use as a desk in her home office. “Best desk ever,” she says.

Turn-of-the-century Swedish workbenches. One in a series of 11 educational posters distributed by Gleerup’s University Bookshop, Lund, Sweden.

An illustration of a late-1700s German cabinetmaker’s bench and an ad for a 1920s mass-produced workbench selling for $22.50. From The Workbench Book by Scott Landis, 1987, Taunton Press, Inc.

Trade sign jackpot!

April 7, 2019

If you haven’t been to the week-long, biannual antique festival in Round Top, Texas, then anything I say to describe it won’t do it justice. It’s something you have to experience yourself — all 20 miles of it. If you’re into world-class antiques from around the globe, this is undoubtedly the place to be. A recent visit had me shooting photos of classic hand-painted trade signs around every turn. Here’s a photoshop string of some of my favorites. Enjoy!

Louise Fili (Henry Leutwyler photo) and Steven Heller (Ryan Essmaker photo) — **Louise Fili** *(Henry Leutwyler photo)* and **Steven Heller** *(Ryan Essmaker photo)*

Two very influential people I thought I’d never cross paths with

February 8, 2019

Louise: At a morning coffee gathering, I quickly stepped in front of graphic-design icon Louise Fili just as she was about to pass by and said, LOUISE!, nearly causing her to drop her muffin. I introduced myself, we talked a bit, I told her I had traveled all the way from Houston to hear her keynote presentation, and asked her to please take a look at my website when she had a chance. I didn’t have any business cards, so I left her with the little, metal Nutmegger Workshop nameplate that mounts on the back of our signs. A week later, I emailed her to ask if she had a chance to visit my site. Indeed she had, and she also added that my “business card” was the most memorable she had ever been given.

Steve: Louise happens to be married to Steven Heller, the acclaimed New York design writer, author, lecturer and graphic design historian. Just recently, Steve emailed me saying that Louise had passed my website to him and that he’d like to write about Nutmegger Workshop on his daily design blog, The Daily Heller. When I first saw “Steven Heller” at the top of my inbox I dropped my cell phone and brought my hands to the top of my head in disbelief.

Anyway, since Steve posted a Q&A with Nutmegger Workshop on the Daily Heller (PRINT magazine), the Workshop has enjoyed unprecedented exposure and will no doubt be presented with new opportunities down the road. Thank you, thank you, Louise Fili and Steve Heller for your time, your generosity, and your belief in Nutmegger Workshop.

Louise Fili
Steven Heller
The Daily Heller PRINT Magazine’s Q&A

Farewell Durgin-Park Market Dining Rooms

January 16, 2019

I really, really believed in this place. Boston’s Durgin-Park restaurant offered up an unwavering sense of place for generations of loyal-to-the-core New Englanders. Like ancient bedrock, this restaurant was always there, the line was always long, and the sights and smells that hit you upon entering was the stuff of legend. When in Boston, I couldn’t wait to get there. Once seated, it felt like a journey’s end with life’s weight magically lifted. For me, life couldn’t get any better.

Sadly (heartbreakingly), Durgin-Park, which opened in 1827 when John Quincy Adams was president, served its last meals on Jan. 12, 2019, after 192 years of continuous operation. That’s nearly two centuries! In the same location! A damn good run of it I’d say. “Established before you were born,” the signs read.

Throughout the years, the workshop has made a few signs to commemorate this place, one of which hangs in our home.

Goodbye Durgin-Park, MassLive news story

Inspiration: Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers

November 11, 2018

Besides my wife, there are very few things that I can say are a sight for sore eyes. Thos. Moser’s ridiculously elegant interpretation of a Shaker classic puts me in a trance every time I see it pictured in their catalog. This past summer, I grabbed this photo of the real deal while visiting the Moser furniture showroom in Freeport, Me. After 15 minutes of absorbing every inch of this piece inside and out, my wife finally grabbed my arm to pull me away. Nooo!

I’ve been inspired by Tom Moser’s work for more than three decades now. I have all the furniture books he’s written, I’ve made the pilgrimage to his Auburn, Maine workshop three times, I’ve built a roomful of tables from his published shop drawings, took part in his company’s recent marketing research study, and my mother still sends old-school news clippings in the mail when the Portland paper writes another Thos. Moser story.

So, here’s to Thos. Moser Cabinetmakers for providing me with years of endless inspiration for new endeavors in the workshop.

Dimensional lettering and smalt paint

September 4, 2018

3/4" thick pine letters hand cut with a bandsaw and jigsaw.

Letters rounded over with a radius bit and a sharp chisel for the corners.

This sign was a departure from what we normally do here at the workshop. We opted for hand-cut dimensional lettering and a smalted-paint background inspired by signs from the late 1800s and early 1900s. This project has all the authentic character and size of an architectural salvage piece, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. At ten feet long, this sign would look great in a home, restaurant, pub, or office lobby.