How we do business

If you would like to own one or more of the pieces you see on the available work page, contact me and we will make arrangements for payment and delivery. If you would like to see the work in person the galleries listed on the links page have some really nice, helpful people and act as my agent in other areas of the country. Also, please let me know if you have seen my work in their showrooms.

If you would like to commission a new piece or want something similar to what is shown in the gallery there is a design fee of $ 200. You will receive design drawings with options and a firm price. Once we agree on the design, the terms are 50 % down, the balance is due upon completion. The design fee is rolled back into the last payment as a credit. Changes and additions are billed at $50 per hour labor, plus costs. As always, we guarantee our work to your satisfaction.

Jesse Woodworks History

We are now a three man workshop specializing in original wood furniture. Our work is evolving into creative art furniture. The love of figured wood and natural themes, illustrated by combinations of specie and carving and sculpture are what we are working on now. This process has evolved from doing cabinetry and architectural work which evolved from house building and teaching woodworking at College. I started Jesse Woodworks in 1979 while working as a teacher and living in Corvallis Or. After moving to Salem, Or. Becky joined me in the business and we worked as a team, doing most of the design and construction for many of the pieces you see in the gallery. Becky has gone back to school and on to a different life; the business is again solely under my direction. We have moved to a new location in Silverton, Oregon. The new shop space is about 50 % larger and the town and location are great.

Each new piece offers new opportunities to be creative and find artistically pleasing solutions to design and construction questions. The creation of sets or groupings of furniture, often from wood from the same tree is one of the most challenging things we do. When the set is delivered and in the setting it was built for, that’s when I feel the most satisfaction. There are wonderful sources for wood in Oregon and I have collected quite a lot of really nice boards, especially walnut. In the future we will be doing more work with indigenous woods and more sculptural pieces. We will continue to work with other creative people too.

Artistic Statement

I enjoy making beautiful pieces with local natural resources. Utilizing the wood around us, carefully developed skills, and past experience, to create for others, is a pretty good life's work. Items that will be treasured and used in daily lives. Designs that will hold their appeal not just for the original client but for time. And that the quality of work will last and speak to the future when we are gone. Hopefully, the next generation will feel a kinship to the work and a desire to live with such a piece of handmade furniture, being reminded of its’ owner and perhaps the craftsman that made it.