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Steve Portner
Woodworker
"I’m always amazed at the productivity of my colleagues. I find I can’t quite keep up with them, so the description of an accidental artist seems to fit my spirit."
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Boat Carving in High Relief
Figured Maple Switch Plates
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Box with Rose
Arts 'n Crafts Bed
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Console Table
Arts and Crafts Table
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Artist Statement
"The Accidental Artist"
"I have my shop on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula in Washington state exactly halfway between Port Angeles and Sequim. I lean towards the Arts and Crafts style because it has clean and simple lines which lend themselves to variations ranging from the useful and sturdy Shaker, Stickley and Roycroft pieces through the more striking furniture of the Greene Brothers, and Frank Lloyd Wright. The challenge is to create a new vision for this style rather than copy that which is already in the A&C catalogue.
My other interests are relief carving by hand and marquetry done in the French method. The English, Germans and Italians all had their own way of creating pictures in wood, but the French developed a style and method all their own that was perfected in the mid-1700s. I use the same method and tools that the artisans would have used to adorn Louis XIV and Louis XV furniture. Both methods, carving by hand and French marquetry, are my way of keeping some of the old disciplines alive.
I’m always amazed at the productivity of my colleagues. I find I can’t quite keep up with them, so the description of an accidental artist seems to fit my spirit."
"The Accidental Artist"
"I have my shop on the beautiful Olympic Peninsula in Washington state exactly halfway between Port Angeles and Sequim. I lean towards the Arts and Crafts style because it has clean and simple lines which lend themselves to variations ranging from the useful and sturdy Shaker, Stickley and Roycroft pieces through the more striking furniture of the Greene Brothers, and Frank Lloyd Wright. The challenge is to create a new vision for this style rather than copy that which is already in the A&C catalogue.
My other interests are relief carving by hand and marquetry done in the French method. The English, Germans and Italians all had their own way of creating pictures in wood, but the French developed a style and method all their own that was perfected in the mid-1700s. I use the same method and tools that the artisans would have used to adorn Louis XIV and Louis XV furniture. Both methods, carving by hand and French marquetry, are my way of keeping some of the old disciplines alive.
I’m always amazed at the productivity of my colleagues. I find I can’t quite keep up with them, so the description of an accidental artist seems to fit my spirit."