John Wesley Williams
I produced my first piece of furniture twenty five years ago in the back of a 1952 school bus, and I discovered two things in that process — how a sense of accomplishment can sustain you through a lifetime, and secondly, to always measure your shop door before you build a piece of furniture. Somewhere there is a rusting bus with a trunk in it too large for the emergency exit.
Each piece of furniture I build begins with the last piece in some form of an idea or detail I wish to further explore. These aspects of past piece evolve and mature within my new work. The process is quite simple. I utilize the time-honored techniques such as hand cut dovetails and mortise and tenon joinery to assemble each design. Surfaces and panels are allowed to float to accommodate environmental changes. Each piece is finished with a pure hand rubbed tung oil. This is furniture that must be touched to be believed.
As a craftsman, I want my work to be a bold and assertive search for an identity. Once my work becomes more of an exploration than an exercise, then every aspect is excited. Even the most tedious functions are riveted to a realm of possibilities. Each piece I build is important to me and demands from me the highest level of craftsmanship. Work this excellent requires an equally enduring design.
As an instructor, I try and impart the idea of design, then build and subsequently learn. Design in this case is an all encompassing concept that includes wood selection, appropriate joinery that enhances the outcome, and proper construction that does not compromise the design. These first pieces are a problem solving process, and subsequently a learning opportunity. Each completed project provides the students with more tools to rely on for future designs. This sense of accomplishment causes a greater self motivation and confidence. As a student moves beyond the fundamentals, he or she is encouraged to work into their designs such tasks as wood bending, inlay, sculpting carving and turning.
Here at Pocahontas Woods, we are able to employ a very individualistic approach to each student based on their skill level. The idea is not to make a specific table or chair, but to be able to employ the concept of good design and produce any table or chair. At the same time, the student takes part in ongoing PW projects where that part is skill building, and provides important lessons in marketing. Whatever each student’s outcome is, the experience will be rewarding and worthwhile.
John Wesley Williams
HC 68 Box 38 GG
Renick, WV 24966
304-497-3896
johnwesleywilliamsfurniture.com