I first became interested in traditional woodworking in 1972 while traveling in the Swiss Alps. I spent a few days at a remote Alpine cabin and the nearest neighbor was a herder and cheese maker whose milk and cream containers were old and very beautiful. the tubs and buckets were coopered and held together with perfectly crafted wooden hoops. These containers were still being made by an old man in the area, Reudi Kohler. His workshop was converted horse stall on the ground level of the 19th Century chalet where he lived.

On a farmlike compound near New Hope, Pennsylvania, George Nakashima, his family, and fellow wood-workers create exquisite furniture from richly grained, rare timber. Tables, desks, chairs, and cabinets from this simple workshop grace the homes and mansions and executive boardrooms of people who prize such excellence. In this lavishly illustrated volume, George Nakashima allows us in intimate look at his artistry, his philosophy, his life. It is the portrait of an artisan who strives to find the ideal use for each plank in order to "create an object of utility to man and, if nature smiles, an object of lasting beauty." The author's search for the meaning of life took him as a young man to Paris, Tokyo, and Pondicherry, India. In India, he found the inner peace for which he had been searching and began to find ways to work with timber. He writes movingly about the grandeur of ancient trees and stunning figured woods and explains how he selects and prepares his materials. Above all, he impresses us with his devotion to discovering the inherent beauty of wood so that noble trees might have a second life as furniture. The Soul of a Tree looks at the world through the eyes of an artist and evokes the joy of living in harmony with nature.

Norm Abram is America's most famous master carpenter, appearing in The New Yankee Workshop and This Old House. In this book, Abram presents a series of sixty lessons for carpenters of all levels of expertise.

One of the great masters of midcentury modernism in furniture Maloof pieces are in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other prominent museums

In Furniture with Soul, author David Savage explores the philosophies, careers, and pivotal moments of struggle and inspiration for today’s most talented and influential woodworkers. He traveled throughout the U.S. and Britain to interview these renowned artists, including John Makepeace, John Cederquist, Jack Larimore, Judy Kensley McKie, Michael Hurwitz, Tom Hucker, Rupert Williamson, Gary Knox Bennett, and Peter Danko. With a telling eye and refreshing intimacy, he reveals their thinking, creative processes, and rise to prominence. He takes the reader into their workshops and their hearts. Savage seeks to illuminate the soul of the artists’ work, and the influences and experiences that shaped them.

To show the dramatic results that can be obtained from closer attention to wood's natural strengths, Elkan has assembled a showcase of projects, all shown in breathtaking color. The fifteen designs featured here are imaginative variations on woodworkers' favorites: the basic bandsawn box (which he calls a "keeper"), hinged box, dovetail box, butterfly, owl, bird's nest, tower of wings, and several other sculptured pieces -- all shown in oversize close-ups that focus on the careful techniques needed for following the natural wood patterns. A full-color photo gallery displays over 40 award-winning projects.