Steven White Woodworking: Fine Funiture, Ski and Snowboard Hangers

I have been building things out of wood all my life. From tree houses and boats as a boy amid the woods of Pennsylvania, I moved on to framing houses during summers in high school and college. A degree in Mechanical Engineering (University of New Mexico, 1978) led to a short career designing wind tunnels at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA.

By 1981 the lure of making things of my own design had me back in the building business, this time on my own as a designer and builder of house additions in Palo Alto, then in Berkeley, where I moved in 1983. What was important to me was the full process of conception, design, and construction leading to the finished product. Aesthetic considerations and coherence of design were always uppermost in my mind. Because of the two-story additions I was building, I became intrigued with stair-cases, and began designing curved stairs in my projects. I gradually phased out house building to focus on stair-building. Curved staircases were for me a fascinating mix of sculptural beauty, mathematics, and challenging construction. Over a period of ten years I developed a reputation for unique staircases in the Berkeley area, and wrote a cover article for Fine Homebuilding magazine in 1991.

My first real piece of furniture was a chest of drawers designed and built for a friend in 1990. The enjoyment of building it began my furniture career. Between stair jobs I built furniture, always trying new designs. I began to be featured in exhibitions, such as California Design '94, and in publications like Woodwork magazine and Fine Woodworking magazine's Design Book Seven.

Married and with a young son, I moved to Bishop in 1998 to be near the Sierra Nevada. I now focus entirely on designing and building furniture. Although influenced by Asian and Arts and Crafts designs, my work has evolved into a style which is unique, using an interplay of gentle curves to form elegant compositions. Using only solid wood and traditional joinery, I hope for my pieces to increase in value over the generations.

My work has long been shown at Gallery M in Half Moon Bay, CA and Dunkirk in San Francisco, as well as at numerous galleries in the eastern Sierra. In 2002 I was awarded Best Fine Craft at Mammoth Lakes Labor Day Arts Festival. I wrote an article on building stools for the August 2003 issue of Woodwork magazine, and in September 2004 I had a hall table featured in the California Design 2004 exhibition in San Francisco. Most recently (2005), I won four awards for two pieces I submitted to San Diego's Design In Wood show, including Excellence in Design and First Place for Art Furniture.