The Past

Attending high school in St. Catharines, Ontario, my carpentry teacher, who had been schooled in the demanding shipyards of Scotland, imparted to me and to all his students a love of form and function through the craft of woodworking. The seed was sown.

Later, at York University, I fell in love with the production side of theatre (the behind-the-scenes wizardry that makes the magic happen). Following university I moved to Los Angeles where I continued to learn my trade creating theater props for dinner theater and creating costumes, including the mascot, Roni the Raccoon, for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.

Returning to Canada in the early 1980s I moved to Ottawa where I began working as a scenic carpenter and theater props builder, creating furniture for numerous National Arts Centre productions and working as a movie set builder on my first film, a Walt Disney feature entitled The Liberators.

In the late 1980s I moved to the Niagara region and began working as a scenic carpenter and theater props builder for the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake. During 9 years with the Shaw Festival I had the privilege and joy of working with some of the most talented designers and fellow craftspeople in Canada. I had the opportunity to construct a wonderful variety of interiors, exteriors and furnishings which spanned styles from primitive to futuristic and were created with myriad materials including wood, steel, brass, fiberglass, canvas, plastics, glass, etc.

During this time I worked with a local construction team, including many gifted carpenters from the Shaw Festival, on the rebuilding of the Oban Inn after a devastating fire on Christmas Eve 1992 destroyed much of the building.

The project was a labour of love completed in November of 1993 with the entire Inn reproduced from original drawings and photographs.

Reproduction included everything from the well-known plaid carpeting in the bar to the early Victorian doors, windows and mouldings in the 21 guest rooms upstairs.

Proof of our success in reproducing the original Inn was confirmed when a long-time client of the Oban Inn, who had not been to Niagara On The Lake for two years and had not heard of the devastating fire, asked the bartender: “What happened to that old fire escape from the second floor?”, not noticing any changes in the bar he was sitting in, which had been rebuilt from scratch.

I next moved to Toronto, working in film, theatre and television and began to build furniture, doors, windows, custom millwork and custom mouldings for a small clientele.

The Present

In 2004 my wife and I found the lure of country life irresistible and we relocated once again, this time to a small rural property in Prince Edward County. I finally have a workshop large enough to accommodate all my tools and equipment and the windows look out onto our hayfields and small orchard. I am very fortunate to be able to work in these beautiful surroundings.

Creative Problem Solving

Some of my recent projects have required creative problem solving on my part to meet my clients’ requirements. In one instance my client was a magician, who needed a wall of bookcases built with hidden storage spaces. Also included in the design was a foldout desk with a triptych mirror so that he could practice his sleight-of-hand card tricks.

Another client asked for 15 feet of floor to ceiling bookcases for his fourth floor apartment. The challenge? The building he lived in had the smallest elevator I had ever seen. The bookcases had to be made in parts and assembled on site.

While installing some custom made fir trimmed triangular shaped windows for other clients they brought to my attention a problem they were having with their kitchen design, which had been installed by a kitchen renovation firm. An island had been installed in the middle of the kitchen, and they found it awkward and wanted it removed. I took the island apart and reused 90% of the materials to create a counter unit for them in the bay window of their kitchen, with a second small sink, creating a food preparation area. They were pleased with this solution and the fact I was able to re-use materials on hand and make the new unit match the existing kitchen cabinets.

The Future

I am presently working on a bar unit made from antique doors and a lower cabinet to match an Edwardian aviary display case.

My experience with theatre and film and their worlds of make-believe has allowed me to expand my powers of lateral thought. This gives me a unique perspective which allows me to visualize, conceptualize and realize projects that may seem difficult, or even impossible, to others. I enjoy the challenges involved in finding a way to make a desire become reality for my clients. I continue to grow and learn with every new project.