James S. Shott

It was a lovely autumn morning and I was working in the shop when I decided to put down the chisel and go for a hike.  I was working on a pair of traditional wall-hung corner cabinets and was stumped on a molding detail.  I knew a bit of time in the woods would clear my mind.  As soon as I was on the trail, I stopped to pick up an acorn.  I remember saying to myself, “I think I can make a corner cabinet shaped like an acorn.”  Before I was finished the nine-mile hike, I had the image and the complete construction process in my head.  After that, it seemed every time I stepped onto the trail I would have another new nature idea in my head.

Perhaps the most enjoyment I’m getting out of my new venture is the design process — coming up with a new idea and working out the process for the construction.  For nearly forty years I have been reproducing fine American furniture.  Now, instead of building someone else’s idea, I have my own to create.