Furniture & carving designed to specifications
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Back in the early Seventies, my father, knowing of this interest, gave me a large collection of carving tools which had belonged to a church carver from Connecticut. With those tools, I sought out Fred Brunner, a German woodcarver, who lived in the next town from Dedham where I grew up. Fred struggled with the English language, but he spoke eloquently through his hands and his work. I apprenticed for several hours each week for years with this master carver and turner. Later in that decade, I took a hiatus from work to attend a furniture design school in western Massachusetts, a liberating interlude from a somewhat dour and demanding business life. It was an intense learning experience in design and the techniques of furniture manufacture. After returning to business life, I always managed to wedge in woodworking activities where possible, though time allowed far too little of that. In 1999, when I retired from New England Financial I was asked to work for a local boatbuilder. My activities there ran the gamut, but my strength probably was the detail work. After several years in the boatshop, I spent some time working for a house restorer. And then it seemed that I had all the pieces that would lead me to my goal since retiring: to work from my own shop. Hence, Cockeast Design (and the current commute is now about 30 yards from the house!). My goal is to put together the various disciplines I have gleaned over the years and design furniture and accessories to meet the customer’s needs and tastes. My designs are inspired by both traditional and contemporary ideas, and things in between; usually some degree of carving is incorporated into whatever is produced. Also, no pieces are just the same, with the hope that new design ideas will continue to be hatched. Thank you for visiting the website. Nicholas Slade Jansen
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