Custom Woodwork Design
My first class
I took my first woodworking class in Green Building Techniques the summer of 1982 with Wille Sundquist. He is a famous Swedish traditional woodworking craftsmen. The course was at Drew Langsner’s Country Workshops in Marshall, NC. Even then my spoons and sheath knife had curves and angles that were just off from the traditional.
Starting my own business
After the birth of my son, I decided to work for myself doing small jobs. We added another room on our one room cabin and bought a radial arm saw, a small table saw, and a bunch of small hand tools. Within a few months I began working with Matrix Design at Rock Rest making Naus Haus cabinets. James Carnahan and Tom Naus Roberts knew each other from growing up. Tom had worked with the Peace Corp and was a building Contractor in Chatham County, and James was a trained Architect. James made cabinets differently than I was taught. He had a European and Modern slant to his design. They were common sense and sturdy, and he made his own knobs! I also learned about finishing from James. He only used Tung Oil from Sutherland Welles. Frank Welles was a Bynum neighbor, a crazy dark paint artist, who was known for his finish, his finishing, and his vocabulary. Sutherland Welles was in Vermont for many years and was recently sold to a family in Rhode Island. Over 40 years and I still prefer their products.
When my son was two years old, we bought land in Bear Creek and rebuilt a cabin there. In 1986, James decided he was tired of doing kitchen cabinets and asked if I wanted to take over the Naus Haus jobs. Tom (Naus) Roberts helped my first husband and I build a shop, and I bought my Powermatic 66 table saw that I still use today. I used what I learned from the two cabinet shops I had worked in and Wood Moods was born in January 1987. I began doing everything required to run a cabinet shop: I got the dimensions for the space, met with the clients, drew up a design, modified around ideas and budget, ordered materials from various places, built the cabinets (including the drawers), finished them, installed them, and even did laminated and Butcher Block counter tops. I had a crew help with installation. In May 1988 I was featured in The Sanford Herald’s Central Carolina Woman. At that time, a woman cabinetmaker was unheard of.
Variations on Naus Haus
I developed variations on the “Naus Haus” cabinet design. My “crazy knob” design appeared in the Chatham News and Record Home improvement section in April 1991 with Custom Cabinet Makers of Chatham. I continued to work with Naus Haus and other builders till 1992, when Naus retired back to New Mexico. Two of the builders that had worked with Naus continued the Naus Haus design, Mark Perry of Sundog Builders, and Miles Stone Building. And I continued making cabinets.
The main contractor I worked with was Sundog builders the next 11 years, with a few other contractors, private homeowners, and commissions. In 2004 my marriage ended, but I continued to use my shop. In 2005 I had spine surgery because of decreasing power in my right arm and hand. It was harder coming back from that than I thought it would be. Still that fall I moved my shop to a space in the county and continued making cabinets. The following spring, I moved my shop again into the basement of Cassedy and Fahrbach cabinet design. It was great having friends and fine cabinetmakers upstairs. I also had women apprentices come in and help me since my right arm was still compromised.
Imagination Sparks
My kids have spent a lot of time around a mom doing woodwork and art, and their dad was a stone mason. I often did art projects in the schools and designed sets for plays. (James Carnahan got me into set design through the ArtsCenter in Carrboro.) My daughter was born in 1994. There is nothing more creative than being a working parent. Everything you interact with in life teaches you lessons. Learning how to be creative with children on the fly can spark so many other imaginings, it is just finding how to let those sparks fly.
The picture here is from The Pittsboro Haw River Mural.
You can read that story at: www.pittsborohawrivermural.info
Moving to FatCat Art
My current husband and I moved back to Bynum in fall 2006. My business became Diane Swan Gallery in 2007. I continued working out of Cassedy and Fahrbach’s till 2011. A glass artist and friend of mine, Gretchen Niver, had an empty hangar on her land that she wanted to fill with woman artists. I moved my shop there in the summer of 2011. Welder, mosaic artist Janice Rieves and I have been shop mates ever since. The shop has become known as FatCat Art Gallery. Over the last 9 years I have evolved to doing more Wood Art than cabinets. My husband and I built a house just outside of Bynum with Sundog Builders in 2017-2018 and I did a lot woodwork details and installed cabinets and furniture of my design throughout the house.
Building a New Shop
In 2021 I decided it was time to move my shop to my house. My friend Ed Griffin had a great shop with metal trusses, so I asked him to build me one too. I moved my shop from Fat Cat Art (The Hangar) in June 2022. I miss my work pals but also love the convenience of working at home. I will be doing shows here from time to time with my talented neighbors and Chatham Studio Tour here in December. So watch my events page!