Designing Wooden Judaica
Designing and creating is one of my great passions. In the past two years, I have concentrated this creativity into our Judaica collection. Focusing my efforts within these bounds has allowed me to dive deep and explore. It has also given me the perspective to critique my own design process and adapt to how I work best. My designs are rooted in Appalachian culture with a blend of mid century modern. In September 2021, I made the leap from one small workbench to a 750 sqft shop. Having the space to push and develop my designs has been the largest benefit of setting up the new shop, it has allowed me to be intentional with each work surface and tool.
Modern Judaica is a simplified approach to an ancient art form, and at their core, our pieces hold an Appalachian perspective. The root of our designs are influenced by what I have built and studied in the past. For a number of years I built chairs inspired by the Ladder Back design. The master woodworker I learned under is from Tennessee and further develops his skills to this day in Western North Carolina. The ladderback chair has evolved by many makers along the way and I had the great pleasure of learning their construction from Brian Boggs in his Ashville Workshop. I then took on a lead craftsman role creating his more contemporary chair, the Sonus chair. While building around 100 Sonus and Lily chairs, I honed my skill by repeatedly sculpting wood to showcase fine, subtle lines. Modern design can utilize twenty first century technology while portraying a familiar appearance, warm and inviting.
Our modern Judaica collection is slowly expanding to include items used for a Shabbat dinner or for display in a Jewish home. With each design, I put extensive time in for brainstorming, sketching, and testing to ultimately create intentionally designed & well crafted pieces.
