Transforming Timber

Scholastic Art: What is your job?

MV: I’m a craftsman at George Nakashima Woodworkers in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Nakashima was an American woodworker and architect and an important contributor to the American Craft Movement. George died in 1990, but his daughter, Mira Nakashima, and other craftspeople continue to carry on this rich tradition of craft and design at the studio. I make furniture out of wood, including dining tables, desks, cabinets, and nightstands. But I’ve also made sliding doors, coat racks, and many other items.

SA: What is your working process?

MV: First, I select and cut the wood I need to make whatever I’m working on from our warehouse. Then I refine it using a variety of tools to get the pieces as close as possible to the desired measurements. I assemble the pieces to make sure they all fit together. Then I take the pieces apart, sand them to a smooth finish, and reassemble and glue the pieces together. Finally, I finish the wood with a tung oil, which acts like a transparent protective coating. For something like a dining room table, the process can take one to two weeks.

SA: What is your training?

MV: My training comes mostly from my life and work experience, not from my academic studies. When I was about 4 or 5 years old, my father began building a cabin that we later lived in. And I was right there by his side throughout, helping with the construction. My parents were landscape artists, and my dad was a roofer, so I was always around job sites as I was growing up. In high school, I took woodworking classes, which I found intriguing. In college, I majored in Spanish and Latin American studies. But after that, I began doing freelance carpentry and helping renovate old buildings.

SA: What do you love about your job?

MV: George Nakashima furniture is very special. He used his skill in architecture to design and engineer furniture that, through its simplicity and strength, highlighted the natural beauty of the wood. Learning the process and George’s philosophy has been, and continues to be, an incredible experience.