Tuesday, May 2nd, 7:00pm

Design without Recipes

Most of us look up a recipe when we want to cook something new in the kitchen. Design is like that. We reach for a set of plans – a recipe before tackling a project. Truth is, designers (and cooks) that are able to create on the fly aren’t winging it. They’ve learned a few basic skills that set them free to create, like understanding proportions, simple shapes, and lines. This is an introduction to designing without recipes. Hopefully, let you a taste of a few of those fundamental design skills that can open up the world of design.

An avid woodworker for decades, like many I started wondering about design. Curiosity led me to dive into historic literature about architecture and furniture design. I began writing about what I was learning until my path crossed with Jim Tolpin. Together, we teamed up and wrote “By Hand & Eye”, which was followed by three more books about design, and a fifth is in progress. Our goal is to uncover the timeless design skills that inspired our ancestors and re-ignite them for modern woodworkers.

Tuesday, April 4th, 7:00pm
Mount Vernon Christian School
820 W Blackburn Rd, Mt Vernon, WA 98273

The Amazing World of Wood

Russ Yerger is a Washington native who grew up in Everett, went to WWU, and has been a resident of Skagit County for 33 years, hiding up in Alger. He has been working in wood-related businesses since 15; starting at a small cabinet shop in Everett, at one time was with the second largest manufacturer of cabinets in Washington, many years with Builders Alliance in Bellingham, a stint with Pacific Woodtech in Burlington, and recently the past 19 years with Edensaw Woods out of Port Townsend.

He does not claim to be an expert on anything but has many years of experience and exposure to many aspects of the wood world. At Edensaw he has the everyday pleasure of helping solve “wood” needs for professionals and hobbyists throughout Northwest Washington. He will share some of the information that he has gathered about wood with NCWA and of course give a little information about Edensaw Woods.

Tuesday, March 7th, 7:00pm
Mount Vernon Christian School
820 W Blackburn Rd, Mt Vernon, WA 98273

Brian Griffin retired as an insurance broker 32 years ago and soon found himself in another business selling and writing about Orchard Mason Bees. After a dozen years in the bee business he retired again to relax and play his homemade ukulele. His retirement did not last. For the last dozen years he has found himself in another business, Lutherie, the making of stringed instruments, namely the ukulele.

Griffin will tell of the unexpected growth of his new business, show us some of his instruments and discuss the methods and materials used in building a ukulele. He might even play us a tune. Visit his website here.

Tuesday, February 7th, 7:00pm
Burlington Library
820 E Washington Avenue, Burlington, WA 98233

The meeting format for this Tuesday will be a little different than we are used to. I want to use a good part of the meeting to introduce the 2023 Board of Directors to the membership and have a time of interaction between the membership and the board. This is your opportunity to voice concerns, give suggestions, and basically let us know how we can best serve you. (Yes, there will be time for Bring-and-Brag as well. We may even squeeze in a short program on choosing bandsaw blades!)