New Arts And Crafts -- Local Artists Follow The Craftsman Philosophy: To Build With Their Hands And Their Hearts

POPULARITY CAN OFTEN BE the undoing of anything. That's particularly true of furniture, as prototypes by innovative designers turn to stereotypes in the hands of marketing wizards, mass production and mail order.

Ultimately, the special nature and integrity of a piece of furniture - its construction, materials, balance, proportion and details - get lost as it passes out of the control of the artist and into the home-furnishings world.

Nowhere is that more evident than in the Arts and Crafts-style oak-furniture market that has risen from obscurity in the past decade.

Its simplicity, comfort and casual coziness have made it a staple in high-end homes, vacation cabins and suburban cul-de-sacs. The "Arts and Crafts" look can be found at high-quality furniture stores, department stores, Costco warehouses and in mail-order catalogs.

But customers buying "the look" rarely get furniture that respects the principles of the Arts and Crafts movement, or the attentive workmanship and carefully selected materials that make the originals so highly prized.

Fortunately, a group of woodworkers in Seattle specializes in Arts and Crafts furniture that's priced competitively with the best available in home-furnishing showrooms.

Unfortunately, most don't have showrooms that feature their work, and commissions are frequently "word of mouth." Here are profiles of two talented, self-taught craftspeople.

DARRELL PEART REMEMBERS watching his great-grandfather, a carpenter, build an addition to his cabin and thinking, "I'd like to do that - build things."

Early tinkering with medicine cabinets, small end tables and plant holders (which he sold at the Pike Place Market in the 1970s) convinced Peart that he needed to learn more skills. He did it the old-fashioned way, by working in custom-furniture shops.

His introduction to the Arts and Crafts movement is laced with irony.

While working for a local shop, he was given an Arts and Crafts-style project using veneered particle board, and pasted on tenons to fake the through tenons that come from structurally honest joinery.

It was, he recalls, "just the kind of shoddy work that spawned the movement in the first place!" The experience encouraged him to read, attend lectures and seek out originals that characterized the movement.

Drawing inspiration from Gustav Stickley and Charles and Henry Greene, Peart now designs and builds furniture "in the style" from a studio he shares in a collective called The Woodworkers Enterprise.

Peart doesn't normally do strict reproductions. "People generally want details changed. They like some aspect of a piece, but may want more drawers, wooden seats or some variant that requires major or minor alterations." As a consequence, his catalog of furniture includes end tables with many variations, or a bed inspired by an English Arts and Crafts frame but changed to his liking by the addition of dovetailing. While he enjoys working with oak, he also likes the rich coloration of cherry.

Peart uses traditional joinery but draws the line at the traditional method of fuming oak to darken it, because of the difficulties in getting an even look to the entire piece, and because "the ammonia fumes are horrendous and can be dangerous." Instead, he uses aniline dyes.

He admits his work is not for everyone. "What they see in department stores, and the re-issues by Stickley, are fine for mass-market production. But there are locals who do it with more quality and care, and it retains the Craftsman philosophy."

For several years, Peart showed his work at The Collection, a Pioneer Square gallery now closed. His work is still seen at Real Mother Goose in Portland, but the lack of a local venue forced him to consider alternatives for advertising his work.

He has jumped the gun on other local craftspeople by marketing his work on a Web page. "If Gustav Stickley or Elbert Hubbard were alive today," he says, "I think they would be on the World Wide Web." Both men were incredibly adept promoters of their work through retail shops, mail order, publications and giveaway offers.

MICHAEL PUHALSKI has been building fine furniture in the Arts & Crafts style since 1978. He and his wife, Jennifer, opened their business in Seattle in 1993 and their line is based on the designs and philosophy of Gustav Stickley. They employ five woodworkers who, Puhalski says, "I teach, challenge and cajole to build with their hands and their hearts what I think is the most honest continuation of the efforts of Stickley, his brothers, Limbert, the Roycrofters and all the others."

Puhalski's commitment to the philosophy and techniques of these designers always rises to the forefront of a conversation.

"Machines mass manufacture Morris chairs by the thousands, and they are very clean and well done, but each is identical to the other. True Craftsman pieces are all slightly different because each is built by an individual craftsman. We don't make the parts in one department and have them assembled in another. The man who puts it together makes the parts."

Puhalski feels strongly that store-bought pieces may be more affordable, but they don't please us in the long run, and that there is great value to being able to feel the hand of man on the product. "I'm trying to bring individual craftsmen back into the picture."

His product line of nearly 50 pieces includes beds, cabinets, bookcases and chairs. He recently added Morris chairs, a media center, a dining table and chairs, and end tables to the collection. In addition to these, he does custom work for clients. Most of his furniture is done in oak, although cherry, mahogany, ash and elm are also used, as they were historically common Arts and Crafts woods.

While his workers use machines for some work, they rely on hammer and chisel to square up mortise and tenon, use dowels and dovetail connectors, and not a nail finds its way into the furniture. His finishing process includes traditional fuming of oak (despite the smell) and relies on the same colors and coloring agents used historically.

Puhalski's reputation has spread through exposure at the Pacific Coast Arts and Crafts Expo, display of his work at a recently closed Pioneer Square shop and advertising in national magazines.

For Puhalski, the smallest details are important. "The Arts & Crafts movement was about bringing more of us into our whole lives. We use a lot of machines, but ultimately it's the hand of the craftsman on the piece that makes it unique."

Lawrence Kreisman is author of six publications on regional architecture and historic preservation. He writes regularly for Pacific Magazine. Xxxxx Xxxxxx is a Seattle Times photographer.

----------------------------------------------------------------- Learn About Stickley

On Oct. 25, Historic Seattle Arts & Crafts Guild will present two lectures focusing on Gustav Stickley and his place in the American Arts and Crafts movement. Lectures, in the auditorium of the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park from 2 to 4 p.m., are:

"Creating in Context: Gustav Stickley and the Craftsman Workshops," by Stickley scholar David Cathers.

"Stickley Reproduction Furniture," by Seattle fine woodworker Michael Puhalski.

Tickets are $20 for nonmembers, $15 for members. Space is limited. For registration, call 206-622-6952.

Finding The Woodworker

Some woodworkers who combine the Craftsman traditions and influences of the Arts and Crafts into unique designs in contemporary home furnishings:

Darrell Peart 3401 17th Ave. W., Suite E Seattle, WA 98119 206-935-2874 http://www.webcom.com/peart/ .

Michael Puhalski Furniture & Design, Inc. 1526 First Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98134 206-233-9581 .

Ken Savage P.O. Box 10264 Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 206-842-7561 .

David Gray Ted Scherrer Thomas Hugh Stangeland . Represented by Northwest Fine Woodworking 101 S. Jackson St. Seattle, WA 98104 206-625-0542 . and 122 Central Way Kirkland, WA 98033 425-889-1513 .

A.K.A. Drake 619 Western Ave., 6th floor Seattle, WA 98104 206-467-1761 .

Represented by The Fountainhead 625 W. McGraw Seattle, WA 98109 206-285-4467 .

John Martin 2147 Boyer Ave. E. Seattle, WA 98112 206-860-5041 .

Craig Keister and Bruce Ruge Bungalow Furniture Company 8300 15th Ave. N.W. Seattle, WA 98117 206-781-2623 .

Alan Cole 12406 263rd Ave. Monroe, WA 98272 360-794-8121 .