Today's Changing Trend

Over the last 40-plus years the custom wood working business has gone through a lot of changes.  With more information available it seemed that quality and unique work was becoming more and more in demand.  This was very exciting.  The jobs required more artistic work and craftsmanship.  The trend was heading in the direction that people were appreciating solids woods, handcrafted work, hand carving, hand-forged metals, and unique art glass.  Designers, architects and home builders were looking for craftsmen that could design and build beautiful architectural statements that would be equal or rival the past.

Somewhere along the line, especially during the last 10-15 years, something got lost.  The look became important, not the quality.  Instead of making furniture, built-in's, doors, etc, to be well made and long-lasting, even future antiques, everything had a facade of well-machined generic moulding details, applied carving, constructed with particle or fiber board (MDF) boxes with faux finishes and being billed as "old-world high-end products" when, in fact, it is neither an old-world or a high-end product.  And although it may be expensive, it will not last.

People need to be educated about the differences between good and bad craft.  There are great woodworkers, craftspeople, artists,  designers, architects, and contractors that have the ability and hopefully can work together to show the world that the quality of the craftsperson/artist is not gone.