Design for Living

Award-winning craftsman Jeffrey Greene shares his love of wood.

By: Maria Ferris

Designer Jeffrey Greene crafted a set of doors, "Tree Dance," that was a finalist for the 2002 Niche Awards.

   In search of a career change, some have found their way to an age-old lifestyle — apprenticeship.
   Formerly a management consultant, Douglas Honabach wanted an alternative to the hectic life of travel found in corporate America. Similarly, Brian Bancroft, who opted for early retirement from engineering, wanted to do something more with his life. They and others have come to Doylestown, Pa., to work as apprentices at the Jeffrey Greene Design Studio.
   Mr. Greene has established a formidable reputation for the fine furniture he designs and makes, however his love of teaching evolved from necessity to pride.
   "I started taking apprentices to give myself a source of inexpensive labor, and what I found was I really enjoyed the process of teaching," says Mr. Greene, who began an apprenticeship program 30 years ago. "There are maybe 35 people who have gone through the program, who have their own workshops scattered all over the country."
   Some of Mr. Greene’s graduates have received regional and national recognition in the field.
   "I don’t make any one piece entirely myself," Mr. Greene says. "I’ll get started on it and I’ll stay with them until they are to the point where they obviously are going to be able to learn how to do it.
   "So 9 to 5, Monday through Friday morning, they are building pieces that are designed by me. They’re closely supervised. During unlimited overtime hours and Friday afternoons, they work on their own pieces."

"Windsail Bench," above.

   For seven years, Mr. Greene’s studio has been housed in a spacious 2,500-square-foot facility. Students become acquainted with the machines and hand tools needed for making furniture, also learning how to produce portfolios for submission to major shows. Appearances at the Philadelphia Furniture Show and the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in Manhattan are important steps toward launching careers.
   One of Mr. Greene’s employees, Travis Hall, finished the apprenticeship program and is currently working on a coffee table made of black walnut and a console made of Bolivian Rosewood and black walnut. Apprentice Skylar Morgan, from Montana, is making a dining table from spalted big leaf maple burl, while Mr. Bancroft’s project is a large coffee table made of black walnut with interchangeable shelves. Mr. Honabach, who will return to Georgia once his apprenticeship is over, is constructing a black walnut coffee table.

Above, "Ichtys Table"; below, "King Arthur Chair."

   The studio currently has five apprenticeship openings for June 2003, however study doesn’t come cheaply. Apprenticeships last one year and cost $16,500. Candidates must have a high aptitude for technical woodworking and intend to do it professionally. Apprentices who finish in good standing may continue their work at the studio.
   Mr. Greene’s first project was a boat he made in a rented garage space after finishing graduate school, where he studied psychology.
   "The pleasure that I found doing it told me I was doing something I should be following as a profession," he says.
   Coming from a family of artists, the groundwork for this artisan was set during his youth. His father, George Greene, painted and sculpted every day.
   "I didn’t see anybody else who seemed to be really enjoying their career," Mr. Greene says. "My uncle [Michael Ramus] did the covers for ‘The New Yorker’ magazine for many years. Then my great grandmother was a professional watercolorist."
   Pursuing a career in the arts or crafts was not initially apparent to Mr. Greene. He began studying electronics, then went into psychology, but found he really liked working with materials.
   Because Mr. Greene’s father was a professional artist, he moved around a lot, living in communities where other artists lived. This occasionally offered the opportunity to sell his work. Having grown up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with time spent in Italy and Mexico, Mr. Greene has lived most of his adult life in Bucks County.

"Flame Chair," above.

   Philip Lloyd Powell and James Martin, an artisan and Sculptor, respectively, helped Mr. Greene learn woodworking. Both live in New Hope.
   Mr. Martin taught him the kind of carvings necessary to produce a set of doors titled, "Tree Dance." The work was a finalist for the 2002 Niche Awards, which recognize the outstanding achievements of American craft artists. His work also received the Award for Design Excellence at the Philadelphia Furniture Show in 2000. The Jeffrey Greene Design Studio Apprenticeship Program won the Cohen Trust Award at the 2001 Philadelphia Furniture Show and in 1998 won the top award from Fine Woodworking magazine.
   A custom furniture designer and maker for 35 years, Mr. Green describes his work as fine furniture in rare solid woods of original design. The James A. Michener Art Museum recently commissioned his studio to make a bench of domestic ash, titled "Windsale Bench," to be placed in the middle of a gallery. The New Hope Synagogue recently commissioned the studio to make its religious furniture in domestic black walnut.
   Mr. Greene’s work is exclusively distributed through the Greene & Greene Gallery in Lambertville, N.J, run by Valerie, his wife of 32 years. Behind the gallery’s simple awning lies a treasure trove of fine jewelry, crafts and furniture. Most the items are handcrafted in the U.S.

Above, "King Arthur Table"; below, "Mandalla Table."

   "I choose pieces for their aesthetic quality rather than their salability," Ms. Greene says. "I also like pieces to be generally functional on some level. I think of it as functional art."
   The gallery carries jewelry by nearly three dozen designers, including Ross Coppelman, John Hardy, Barbara Heinrich and Margaret Barnaby. The establishment also carries lamps by Altamira, utensils by Joe Spoon and an extensive selection of hand-blown glass.
   Some of Mr. Greene’s work at the Gallery visitors will encounter several examples of Mr. Greene’s work, among them, the "Flame Dining Table," made of Bolivian Rosewood and African Wenge. This rectangular table seats 14 and has an extension leaf made with dovetail sliders.
   "We’ve developed a very simple and extremely strong and functional way to join the two halves of the center leaf of the dining table together," Mr. Greene says.
   The "Mandala Table" has a base made of Brazilian Purpleheart and curly maple with a ¾-inch rectangular glass top. The coffee table "Diminishing Rectangles" is made of Bolivian Rosewood, African Wenge and curly maple. As the rectangles on the piece become smaller, the wood used for the piece becomes more rare.
   "I like teaching," Mr. Greene says, "but even more than that, I like seeing people who I’ve taught do this professionally.
   "Someone comes to me with an executive background who’s been miserable in that situation [but] has been passionate about their hobby, woodworking. If I’m able to facilitate their actually making a change, then it’s going to really change their life."
Jeffrey Greene Design Studio is located at 3853 Old Easton Road, Doylestown, Pa. Hours: Mon.-Fri. 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. For information, call (215) 348-5232.
Greene & Greene Gallery is at 32 Bridge Street, Lambertville, N.J. Hours: Mon.-Fri. noon-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun.
11 a.m.-6 p.m. or by appointment. For information, call (609) 397-7774. On the Web: www.nolegsneeded.com/greeneandgreene