2012 was another memorable year for me.  Here are some of the highlights:

More magazine articles published!

In March, an article I co-wrote with Calgarian woodworker Charles Mak was featured in issue #74 of Australian Wood Review.

In the December/January 2013 issue of Canadian Woodworking & Home Improvement, I had two articles published (two articles in a single issue is a new record for me!).

Morgan Holt named Master of the Southwest

Morgan Holt of EarthArt Landscape gave me my first big job in 2008 when he commissioned me to make a bubinga table top for a dining table that was to become part of an extensive backyard renovation in Phoenix, Arizona.  I was grateful for the opportunity to work with Morgan and it remains one of the best experiences of my life.

In March, Morgan was awarded with the title of Master of the Southwest, a title he undoubtedly deserves.  Working with him, I feel that he is indeed worthy of the recognition. What I noticed was his impeccable attention to detail, his thorough understanding of the materials, his ability to envision and comunicate his ideas, and his skills to work with clients and contractors to complete the build (these attributes really are not that different from that of a good woodworker).

Morgan and I have remained friends since the project.  He is a hobbyist woodworker and reads and comments on my blog.

Relationship Study

On April 15, I started what would eventually be realized as a trestle table and probably the most ambitious, boldest, and challenging thing I had ever built.  The entire process was documented with a 31-session Tweet-Along spanning three months.

The table was titled Relationship Study (and is available in my Store).

Woodworking In America and Hand Tool Olympics, and woodworking attractions!

October was a busy month for me.  I attended Woodworking In America where I gave away bench dogs for Time Warp Tool Works and had a blast competing in Hand Tool Olympics.  After Woodworking in America, my friend Paul-Marcel and I visited other art/woodworking attractions including Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Paul Schurch’s woodworking shop.

Then we returned to his place in Phoenix, Arizona where I was able to spend a few days, unsupervised, in a shop full of expensive and fancy tools making a wooden lock mechanism that came to me in a flash of inspiration.

Haircut!

At the end of October, I cut my hair for the first time in three years to donate to Locks of Love.

Experimenting with other mediums.

For a long while, I have wanted to explore mediums other than wood and in November I did my first resin casting, for Deconstructed.