Instructors
William Ng
William Ng comes from an engineering background and uses a similar approach in his woodworking. Precision, accuracy and efficiency are emphasized in his teaching. His sense of humor, combined with his passion for woodworking makes for an enjoyable learning experience. William was an instructor of furniture making at Cerritos College. Many of William’s students have won numerous woodworking awards. In addition to being an instructor and the director of our school, William continues to make custom furniture in his studio. – Go to Instructor Profile
Dale Barnard
I teach woodworking on a part time basis. As I age it has been my plan to go full time. I have been involved in woodworking all my life and for my peace of mind, after attending Indiana University majoring in Mathematics, I had to choose woodworking rather than teaching math as my career. I am completely satisfied with the choice I made. I learned the carpentry trade from my father, and have built houses from the foundation up, running crews, as well as working in the office – specializing in the interior trim, stairways, & kitchen cabinetry. Then I entered into restoration and period design, always looking for a challenge and more advanced projects. Throughout my career I restored and repaired antiques, which is my “college training in furniture.” Making furniture from scratch was an easy transition and a favorite occupation. After getting a website and marketing on a national scale I began building entire interiors consisting of house doors, cabinets, built-in furniture, chairs and other furniture, mostly in the Arts & Crafts Style and Greene & Greene design. Then I was featured on Modern Masters for HGTV. Soon after this I was asked to teach at a woodworking school that was looking for furniture making instructors. I agreed to do one class to see how it went and I have loved teaching ever since. It is a great joy to pass on to others the hard earned knowledge and tricks of the trade learned from a life time of experience. I am returning to my first career choice of teacher, only in woodworking. I am the son of a Traditional Master Carpenter whose father was a Master Carpenter as well. I have over forty-five years experience. Our woodworking business is on 89 acres of beautiful woods in Southern Indiana. Mary, my wife of 30 years and I run our small business together and enjoy it. – Go to Instructor Profile
Yeung Chan
Yeung Chan is a furniture maker and instructor from California. Born in China, he came to United States in 1973. Yeung studied under James Krenov at the College of the Redwoods in 1997. He has taught woodworking courses at the College of the Redwoods in California and Carleton College in Minnesota, he also gives seminars and demonstrations in numerous woodworking shows in the US. Yeung is the author of the book “Classic Joints with Power tools.” – Go to Instructor Profile
Brian Miller
Brian’s career in wood finishing started in 1975. While attending college at night, he worked during the day at a family owned paint store for about 2 1/2 years. It was there that he learned more about color theory than anywhere else. After graduating from college, Brian decided he liked the paint & wood finishing industry. Brian then worked for various paint & finish supply companies until 1981, when he decided to learn the trade side of the industry.
In 1987, Brian decided it was time to venture out on his own, mind you with no foreseeable work on the horizon. He made it a point from then on, to concentrate on wood finishing, so that he could distinguish himself as someone other than just another paint contractor.
The majority of Brian’s work today is historical restoration mainly in the Pasadena area. Some of his projects have been, a permanent exhibit at the “Huntington Library” 1990, complete restoration of “Greene & Greene’s” the Robert R. Blacker House 1995-1997, complete restoration of “Charles Greene’s” personal residence, 1998, other “Greene & Greene” residences, & numerous pieces of furniture for private collections. – Go to Instructor Profile
Darrell Peart
Darrell started his woodworking career making and selling small wooden items at Seattle’s Pike Place Market. To broaden his experience, he then worked for several years in various high-end custom shops throughout the Puget Sound area. In 1989 he discovered the American Arts & Crafts Movement and in succession was captivated by the works of Charles and Henry Greene. With over 30 years experience in the woodworking field he has an extensive background in both commercial and custom furniture making. He has written for Home Furniture, Today’s Woodworker, and Fine Woodworking magazines. His first book; Greene and Greene: Design Elements for the Workshop is due to be published by Linden Press in February or March of 2006. His work has appeared in various galleries; has been featured in both local and national newspapers, magazines, and books; and in private collections throughout the US. Although Greene & Greene is Darrell’s primary inspiration, James Krenov, Thomas Chippendale, and Gothic furniture have also influenced him in one way or another. – Go to Instructor Profile
James Santhon
Born, and reared in the Los Angeles area James was conscripted at an early age for service in his brother’s woodturning business. He was taught to turn by his brother who learned from a German woodturner. James has been turning professionally for thirty-five years, and has probably logged more than twenty thousand hours on the lathe. He is an expert in face-plate work as well as spindle turning. The gouge is his weapon of choice, and he has been known to make it sing, or so we are led to believe. He is a veteran turner with a plethora of knowledge to share, and his class should be a fun experience. – Go to Instructor Profile
Marc Spagnuolo
Marc Spagnuolo started woodworking as a hobby while working in biotech. After a few years of making projects for family and friends he realized he needed to follow his true passion: woodworking. To help further his education, he seized an opportunity to work with David Marks, which proved to be instrumental in cementing the shift from the world of science. In 2006, Marc came up with the idea for “The Wood Whisperer”: a web-based woodworking video series that would break the mold of traditional woodworking videos. With a focus on humor and the lighter side of the craft, TheWoodWhisperer.com has exploded in popularity and now gives Marc the opportunity to teach thousands of woodworkers world-wide, each and every day. Marc has been a contributing editor for Fine Woodworking Magazine and is now a regular columnist for Popular Woodworking Magazine. – Go to Instructor Profile
Jay Van Arsdale
Jay apprenticed early on with his father and grandfather in his family’s blacksmith shop in Kentucky. After graduating from Centre College, Danville, Ky., in 1970, he came to the Bay Area where he attended Mills College in Oakland, (MFA in Art, ’72).
Jay was inspired to become involved with Japanese woodworking in the mid 1970′s after seeing a demonstration by Japanese Daiku Makoto Imai, who he learned from for a number of years. Jay has worked and taught in the Bay Area since the early 80′s. He has given demos/lectures and other presentations for many organizations, including the Japan Society, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, Exploratorium, Academy of Science, UC Berkeley, School of Architecture, and others. Jay is the author of Shoji, designing, building, and installing Japanese Screens. (Kodansha, ’86), Introduction to Japanese woodworking, (video, ’87), and contributing editor on The Complete Japanese Joinery, (Hartley & Marks, ’90). He also has written numerous magazine articles and appeared on Japanese and U.S. Television. – Go to Instructor Profile
Paul Schurch
Currently I own and operate a small custom woodworking shop specializing in marquetry, and I produce up to 30 pieces of fine furniture per year. For several years I have been teaching furniture making, veneer work and marquetry, and I am dedicated to the task of passing on the knowledge I have received from the many fine teachers and masters of the trade who have taught me. I have passed this knowledge on to over ten people who have successfully completed apprenticeships and advanced internships in my shop since 1979. Up until 1995, I had been traveling once per year to Northern Italy to work in a small shop doing production marquetry for the furniture trade. I would bring my own projects in the form of drawings and raw wood veneer, and work side by side with some of the finest craftsmen in the world. They gave me a workbench, help when I needed it, and techniques that I am still using today to create decorative veneer work. My experience with these masters and journeymen was incredibly inspiring. They gave so freely of themselves, their secrets and techniques so I could pursue the ideas and visions I had for my own furniture designs and my future as a teacher. When I started my internship in marquetry, there were about twenty businesses in this area of Italy producing marquetry, now I understand there are only two shops left. It is my hope that you will make good use of this information, techniques and tools that I have to offer. It is also my hope that I will be able to introduce you to the art of decorative veneering. I wish to instill confidence, and inspire students to explore this fine craft on their own projects, and to create works of art that will be handed down for generations to come. – Go to Instructor Profile
Matthew Werner
My connections to the natural world are rooted in my childhood, when my family spent summers on the Delaware River, and I was free to roam field and forest. An internship with the Smithsonian during my college years paid me a stipend to walk in the Maryland woods with a notebook and pencil and observe ant communities. That led to graduate studies in entomology and soil ecology, and eventually I came to Santa Cruz, California with a Ph.D. to do research in organic farming.
During my academic career, I was always seeking creative projects, mostly through music and writing. But when my partner Michele and I purchased an old house in Santa Cruz in the mid-1990′s and began contemplating the work we wanted to do on it, the idea of working with wood took hold. I showed some early efforts to a friend, who suggested I read Jim Krenov’s books. His writings were such an inspiration that I spent a year studying Fine Woodworking with Mr. Krenov in Fort Bragg, California, and this work has been my full-time occupation ever since.– Go to Instructor Profile