North State Woodworkers
JANUARY 6-28
“The Wood Nymph” by Dave Allred, Shasta Lake driftwood with copper accents
Shasta County Arts Council presents a group exhibition of North State woodworkers featuring creations by Alice Porembski, Eric Nanson, Jerry Cousins, David Allred, Cregg Zehnle, Don McDonald, Karl Pavlik, Yosh Sugiyama, Thomas Starbuck Stockton, Theresa Robbins, John Harrison, and Ted & Laura Dawson. The exhibited works vary from bespoke furniture, to wood turnings, to sculptures, marquetry, and forms dictated by nature.
The Old City Hall Arts Center is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00-4:00 and Saturdays from 10:00-3:00. North State Woodworkers is on display from now until January 28th, and will be featured as part of the Redding Cultural Cruise on January 27th.
Artist Spotlight
Artist Spotlight
Sculpture artist Eric Nanson makes the everyday extraordinary. Learn more about Eric and his work in this month’s Visual Artist Spotlight. Eric is featured in the North State Woodworkers exhibit, now showing at Old City Hall Arts Center in Redding.
Meet the artists.
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Thomas has operated a fully equipped furniture-making studio since 1988. He designs and builds pieces by private commissions as well as creating his own personal designs which are shown in galleries and exhibits throughout California.
He has won numerous prizes and awards for his furniture and has been featured in many publications throughout his career.
Good workmanship goes hand in hand with good design. Both are necessary to create beautiful furniture that will endure over lifetimes. Each new piece starts with simple sketches that are then refined into detailed drawings, followed by the creation of full-sized templates to show the various shapes and dimensions that comprise a completed piece.
As the work progresses, fine details that make each piece unique become clear: enhancing the grain of the wood, bringing attention to a particular line in the design or the creation of drawer and door pulls crafted from materials such as ebony, tagua nut, sterling silver wire and abalone.
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Theresa Robbins has been a woodworker since 1983 when she worked as a furnituremaker and woodcarver for thirteen years. She currently enjoys bas-relief wood carving and creating marquetry images in wood. She is delighted by being able to combine different colors and patterns of wood together to bring an object to life. She often works with her husband, Thomas Starbuck Stockton, to make pieces that combine the artistry of carving and marquetry with the precision of a skilled craftsman.
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Born 1959. Raised in Wayne, MI
US Army Veteran (11-B/Drill Sergeant).
Retired Glazing Engineer.
A self-taught woodworker for over 40 years. Mostly work with hardwoods & exotic hardwoods. Types of woodwork are furniture, various boxes, clocks, photo frames, and cremation urns.
Other interests are fly rod building, fly tying, fishing of all kinds & pocket watch repair.
Resident of Shasta County since 1980.
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The instruments were made entirely by John Harrison, who was active as a violin maker for 38 years and won a number of international awards for quality.
John’s instruments on display in this show are made of Bosnian maple, alpine spruce from Austria and northern Italy.
The varnish is a formulation of a 16th century Italian formula using natural pigments for color.
To create a violin, it is usually a three-month process.
Process for building them uses classic Italian violinmaking method as was used by Antonio Stradivari Joseph Guarneri, or Nicolo Amati and their followers.
The materials used in building of the instruments will influence the final sound of the instrument.
John Harrison has created instruments using local wood species earlier in his career.
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Fool4Flotsam
(flotsam: wood debris on water)
The winters of 2016 & 2017 brought record rainfall to California after almost ten years of drought. The impact on the streams, rivers, and lakes was huge. Rivers and streams were swollen and overflowing their banks. Tons of debris were washed into these streams and rivers and sent down to the rising lakes. This was especially true of Lake Shasta. The Sacramento, McCloud, and Pit rivers all flow into Lake Shasta all contribute their water (and debris) to this important source of water for much of California.
The Fool in Charge (Me) has the privilege of working for the summer months at Bridge Bay Resort, situated on Lake Shasta. I started noticing unusual shapes and patterns in the driftwood and started collecting it, just for fun. The fun became an obsession, the obsession became a passion. Our backyard became storage for piles of driftwood. The pieces of driftwood on this collection are the result of sorting through hundreds of pieces of flotsam. My neighbors have enjoyed free firewood and I have found a new passion. The wood is sanded with specialty soft sanders (expensive) and the finish is a hand rubbed urethane and oil mix.
Air Plants (Tillandsias) were added in 2021 and make a beautiful addition to the driftwood. Air Plants are native to equatorial environments and do not require soil to grow. They get their nutrients from water.
In 2016 my Driftwood creations were featured in “Art in the City” at Redding City Hall
I just love the stuff and I hope that you will enjoy viewing it.
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I graduated from the University of Utah with Education & Fine Arts degrees. My art work has developed into a unique niche for doing gas welded sculpture using steel, copper, brass and wood.
Each sculpture is one-of-a-kind, done individually, so each is special—no castings, jigs, copies or prints—rendered only by me. Metals and wood entice me toward endless possibilities and subjects designed to appeal to those who know and appreciate original and unique art. I’ve always been an avid outdoor sportsman and lover of wildlife. So much of my art expresses outdoor experiences—though any subject is possible.
I have completed more than 4,000 sculptures. Collectors across the U.S., Canada and most Western countries own my work. Many are commissioned for special purposes , many of large sizes, for indoor or outdoors.
I have shown and sold my work in galleries, resorts and shops as well as in some of the most prominent and distinguished names in the sporting world including Abercrombie and Fitch, The Fly Shop, Eddie Bauer, Orvis, Cabelas and Wild Wings. I have donated to numerous environmental and conservation organizations.
I have lived, sculpted, hunted, fished and raised my two children in Redding, California for 54 years. View samples of my work at www.artistdavidallred.com.
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Cregg is a retired Wood shop teacher and building contractor, born in Redding and enjoys working with wood.
Shasta Woodworker member Cregg Zehnle built this reproduction of the 1843 Mac Millian first wood pedal bike, from a photograph with no plans available.
His granddaughter, Mira Zimmerman, gave him the picture and convinced him to tackle the project since Covid shut down the woodworking for 2 years.
It does pedal and the wheels have rubber on the steel wheels to prevent sparks on the pavements to eliminate a fire hazard.
The decorative balls are made from gray pinecones turned on a wood lathe to add some personal character.
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Jerry Cousins is a wood worker and furniture maker living in Trinity County. He moved there in the early 1970's as part of the "back to the land" movement, first to Hayfork and then to the small valley of Hyampom. He and his wife Susan started their family there and then moved to Weaverville, where they still live.
Jerry has been involved in many different aspects of construction and woodworking house construction, remodeling, cabinet making and now focusing entirely on furniture. In 2004 he attended the James Krenov's woodworking school at College of the Redwoods, in Fort Bragg to learn the skill of marquetry.
Marquetry takes diverse species of wood veneers and pieces them together to form patterns, accents, and images. Woods are chosen for their color, grain pattern, and hues. Once the wood design or "picture" is completed it is usually integrated into a piece of furniture -but for the last few years, in addition to furniture pieces, he has created interesting 2-dimensional wall hangings.
All of the wood veneers are cut in the shop and using the double-bevel cutting method, pieces are cut into the background to create the design or picture.
His pieces are in several private collections and have been shown in the Fine Woodworking
Magazine. Currently he shows his work at several local Trinity County galleries and at the Dovetail Collection Gallery in Healdsburg, CA.
Unique commission pieces are welcomed.
jerrycousins@gmail.com 530 623 7165
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The artist works in almost all media and disciplines. He has done art furniture, glass blowing, painting, wearable art, wood working, metal artwork, ceramics, glass fusing, jewelry, product design, interior design, graphic design, photography and poetry.
A Redding native, Eric graduated from Shasta High School, Shasta College, and Chico State University, cum laude, with a degree in Design. Eric has been creating art and design most all of his life, and has shown in galleries and design venues all over the United States.
“As with most artists, I tend to delve into a certain media or disciplines and immerse myself in it for a period of time, and then move on to others.” Working in so many mediums, when I conceive a piece, I am able to choose which mediums I will work with to produce the best result.
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My furniture.
The traditional version of woodworking craft was designed and made for function or ceremony, studio craft changed that to emphasize more of an artistic investigation or aesthetic contemplation. Today, studio furniture may or may not be functional or intended for practical use. Contemporary studio furniture challenges the discussion of craft versus art. Artists are making furniture/ furniture makers are making art.
Depending on the commission, my work lies somewhere along this spectrum, it’s functional, yet embraces subtle design departures from the traditional. Some say art, I say it’s staunchly rooted in the fine woodworking, craft tradition.
www.alicepfurniture.com
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Ted and Laura Dawson have been working together creating works of art since 2020.
Our business is "Nom Sus Wintu Products" because our works are inspired by Ted's family history or native peoples.
We collect the acorns, leaves, moss, alder cones, lodgepole pinecones, wolf lichens, and flowers in Shasta, Trinity, and Siskiyou counties. We live in Shingletown where Ted's family has lived since 1853 when they settled here.
Laura is an IT specialist for Trinity County Office of Education for 18 years. She has been supporting students, teachers, and staff to be in contact and get things done on the computer. Laura raised two daughters in Trinity County.
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Yosh Sugiyama, master wood turner and the originator of his ‘signature style’ open segmented turnings. His art remains unparalleled. These tiny, elegant examples illustrate his paper-thin turning technique and elegant segmented turning.
Yosh maintained a humble wood shop in the Redding Parkview neighborhood on Favretto St. where he produced his world-renowned open segmented turnings. In 1990 he introduced his "self-style signature”, open segmented technique. His work brought him international and local notoriety.
His technique was first demonstrated publicly in the 1999 Tacoma AAW Symposium and since has been adopted and attempted by many fine woodworkers.
Kind, generous and welcoming, his door was always open to a visit.
He was born in San Francisco and raised in Berkeley. For three years his family were forced to live in American internment camps in Utah. His education was cut short while going to University of California at Berkeley. After being drafted into the U.S. Army and serving 3 years in Germany, he returned to Berkeley in 1956 and received his degree in bacteriology in 1958.
In 1961 he moved to Redding to become lab director of the Shasta County Health Department. He retired in 1983. Throughout his career he was honing his skills as a woodworker. He built everything from guitars and violins, furniture, toy airplanes and cars. His main love of the wood is shown in his beautiful creations in woodturning.
Born Feb. 2, 1932, died March 31, 2020