These folks put the ‘fine’ in fine woodworking

What do a Coon Rapids High School senior, Eden Prairie’s former parks and natural resources manager, and a retiree who combines humor with anger management have in common? They all are fine woodworkers whose creations were on display at the 41st annual Northern Woods Exhibition at Eden Prairie Center.

Forty-eight woodworkers entered this year’s show, hosted by the Minnesota Woodworkers Guild at the mall from April 24 to 27. The guild gave out awards in 16 categories, and the public was able to vote for a People’s Choice award.

This year’s People’s Choice winner was “Curiouser and Curiouser” by Mark Laub, a piece featuring five rotating cylinders inspired by the book, characters and illustrations from Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland.”

All ages and experience levels were welcome. James Walsten, a high school senior from Coon Rapids, received the Youth Award for his oak rocking chair. Several entrants listed “retiree” in their biographies. Some were hobbyists; others were professionals, with business cards or website links on display inviting commissions and sales.

Each piece was unique, often accompanied by a story. Mike Berner of Excelsior crafted a walnut dining table using wood his grandfather had cut and milled from a tree on the family’s Chanhassen property.

Some of the stories were deeply personal. Jay Ankeny’s “Memory Box” was one of many he and other woodworkers have made voluntarily for parents whose children didn’t come home from the hospital. Ankeny writes that his parents lost both his twin and his brother’s twin as infants. Crafting a memory box, he says, “is much more satisfying than sculpting a smartphone.”

To honor his father’s military service in Korea, woodworker Dan Thomas crafted a frame box from oak, walnut, olive and purpleheart woods to showcase his father’s Purple Heart medal.

Professional woodworker Thomas Schrunk displayed an intricate liquor cabinet that was not for sale. He was, however, willing to gift it to any person or group making a $5,000 donation to the Croatia Archeological Project at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

Many of the pieces on display had practical uses. Stu Fox, who retired as Eden Prairie’s parks and natural resources manager in 2015, crafted a sofa table with a low shelf that could hold a stack of his wife’s quilts.

“She first asked for a table that would just hold family pictures,” he explains. “So I made her a simple one with materials that only cost about $18. She liked it, but started stacking her quilts on the floor, and said it would be nice if it had a shelf.

“I wanted to make a nicer table to do that, so I bought a beautiful piece of walnut and used curly maple for the inlay. Then I decided to use ash for the drawer to highlight the dovetail joints.”

Fox speaks about the woods he chooses as if he were introducing an intimate friend.

“The legs of the table are rift sawn,” he says. “That means there are no cathedral patterns to distract your eyes.” Fox believes his sawing technique reduced the appearance of the arched pattern that can sometimes be visible in wood grain.

He runs his eyes along the silky smooth surface of the table. “There are five coats of finish,” he explains. “I didn’t count, but this table probably took over 200 hours to make.”

Woodworkers appreciate the value of every piece of wood, regardless of how small it is. Fox took a piece of walnut destined for the scrap pile and realized it had a “punky knot” – a hole. Rather than discard the piece, he made an image of a walnut tree and placed it in the hole, creating a fun wall decoration that forces the viewer to look closer.

Woodworker Avery Shoemaker of Minneapolis also created a practical piece: a simple writing desk she could place over her lap as she sits on the floor to write in her notebook. She included a small drawer with a glass handle to hold her writing supplies.

Charles Finne, a retired surgeon from Bloomington, created a sturdy step stool and a bar stool. Charlie Kocourek of Fridley made a measuring cup organizer from quilted mahogany.

Scott Olson of Eden Prairie crafted identical Asian tables from elm and poplar. His notes say his design was inspired by the Qing-style calligraphy tables.

Combining practicality with artistry, Cindy Darwin entered an end table made from walnut and both black and white ash woods, which she decorated with wooden leaves. She thanked her mentor, Roger Knudson, and credited the education she received at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Portland, Maine, for her ability to produce a piece with such decorative detail.

Furniture styles spanned the centuries. Tony Kubiak won Best Traditional Piece for his mahogany Philadelphia tassel-back armchair, a style popular in the 1700s. Calan Slattery crafted a modern executive desk of walnut and ash.

Art that uses wood as the primary medium was prominent in the show. Roger Knudson crafted an oversized red stiletto shoe that stood over five feet tall. Staying in the oversized theme, he also created a super-sized purple clarinet of basswood, brass and sterling silver.

Doug Affinity won Best Finish for his rendition of his dog’s face gleefully chewing a new toy received for Christmas.

One piece that crossed many boundaries was Greg Flanagan’s drum set. He noted that a talented collaboration made it possible. Michael Helsinger at Nordic Shells built the shells of the drums. Flanagan built the drums, made the lugs and served as the veneer technician. Patrick Armstrong did the finishing, and Tom Schrunk placed the veneers.

Not every piece turned out as the artist had planned. David Lane, 2024’s Best of Show winner, entered a cracked shelf covered with books, including one titled “Anger Management.”

His artist statement read: “So I build this really nice shelf for my wife, who was very pleased … until my rock head brother-in-law asked me if it came from IKEA. He’s lucky I hit the shelf and not his balding head. And you might ask, why am I displaying a broken shelf in this show? I’ll tell you why. I paid the pricey entrance fee and can’t get a refund.”

For the finish on the piece, he wrote, “It’s finished all right. For good!” And the price? “I’ll pay you!”

This year’s Best of Show was awarded to cabinetmaker Mark Laub for his piece, “Pages Turning, Cut and Burning.” He called it a “metaphor for my lifelong struggle with the stigma and shame of mental illness.”

The glass-encased, scissors-shaped cabinet “… is trying to escape from its glass and aluminum bars, suggesting that our real-life cages might also be as easily broken as …glass. The scissors emphasize the necessity of not only turning negative and toxic pages in our book of memories, but cutting and burning them as well.”

The materials of the sophisticated piece include sapele pommele, maple and ebony woods, plus copper, glass, tile, mother-of-pearl, sterling silver and aluminum.

The exhibition was sponsored by 24 businesses and individuals from the region, all representing various tools and supplies fine woodworkers need.

The Minnesota Woodworkers Guild states on its brochure, “We welcome all woodworkers, regardless of what you build, your skill level, or your profession.”