My furniture handcrafting studio is located in the scenic countryside outside
         Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. As the designer and craftsman I bring to you 14 years
         of woodworking expertise. Over the past years, I have acquired cabinetmaking
         certification and have also received instruction from renown craftsmen and
         contemporaries such as Yeung Chan (Ca.),Garrett Hack(Vt.),Ted Brown(Ont.),
         Robert Van Norman(BC), Craig Vandall Stevens(Ohio), Michael Fortune(Ont.).


                      
                                           
          My journey into woodworking began at an early age while working with my father.
         Under his guidance, I was introduced to hand tools and a wide variety of hand tool
         techniques. Over the years, after having pursued non-woodworking career ambitions,
         I have slowly returned to this passion and craft, likely due to my innate love of working
         with my hands and the quest for creating custom, studio furniture. My most recent years
         have been devoted to White Mountain Design, maker of fine jewelry boxes. Through the
         deep admiration for my craft and necessary virtues such as patience and attention to 
         detail, my goal is to create striking studio furniture to complement any setting.
               
          I work primarily by myself and without distractions. I feel this is necessary to be able
         to focus on the work at hand. I dedicate myself to one piece of furniture at a time and
         can therefore devote my full complement of skills to the piece at hand. Although some
         machine work is necessary in the preparation of lumber for my furniture pieces, a large
         component of my furniture handcrafting is performed with hand tools.

         Studio furniture and fine art furniture take you far beyond the bounds of mass production

          I pride myself on wood selection, selecting only the best, clearest woods for the
         components of a piece of furniture. Wood preparation and finishing are a large part of
         creating furniture and therefore I devote considerable time to these stages of the piece. 
   
         Specialized instruction and courses now available in my studio   

         More information on my background:   Woodworkers Journal Article 
                                                                                    

                                                                                                               
                                            
                                                              
       
                                                                            Refined Edge Design 
                                                                                    Ottawa Ontario ON K0A 2P0 CANADA
                                                                  Phone: (613) 821-5160   E-mail: norman@refinededge.com