Click on image for larger picture and more info on painting © 1997 Tom Watson
Thomas Starbuck Stockton's interest in fine furnituremaking started when he took a summer course at College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, California. The course introduced him to the fundamentals of hand crafted furniture. Knowing that this was the path he wanted to pursue in life, he enrolled at a small furnituremaking school in Missoula, Montana. While attending the Primrose Center he learned traditional furniture making techniques, as well as, drawing and design.
After completing one year of school he applied for an apprenticeship through the Baulines Crafts Guild and honed his skills in the studios of C. Stuart Welch. Under Welch's expert instruction, he focused on drawing, the elements of well thought out design and the many aspects of operating a studio smoothly and efficiently.
In 1989, he was awarded a scholarship by the Baulines Crafts Guild which he used to study advanced finishing techniques under David J. Marks.
Thomas feels that good workmanship goes hand in hand with good design. Both are necessary in order to create beautiful furniture that will endure over lifetimes. Each new piece starts with simple sketches that are then refined into more detailed drawings. In some cases, he will draw the piece out full size on plywood. This drawing can then serve as a template for the various shapes and dimensions that comprise a completed piece.
As the work progresses, the fine details that make a piece unique come clear, creating a truly exquisite piece of furniture. The flexibility inherent in this process is essential to enhance a particular pattern in the wood or bring attention to particular aspects of the design itself. Usually these changes are subtle but of great importance to the overall scope of the work.
One of the areas that this is most apparent is in the door and drawer pulls that Thomas enjoys making for his furniture. These pulls are made specifically for a piece and can include such materials as ebony, tagua nut ivory, and sterling silver wire. This also allows him to tailor hardware to a specific piece. He occasionally uses high quality commercial pulls when appropriate on an individual piece, usually modifying or enhancing them in some way.
Thomas works easily with clients. His goal is to create a piece that will satisfy both their sense of design and practical concerns of eventual use. He feels commissioned work can be the most rewarding because in fulfilling a clients needs, he is pushed in directions he may not have otherwise gone. He enjoys the challenges of this kind of relationship and excels at it.
Thomas has operated a fully equipped furnituremaking studio since 1988. He designs and constructs pieces by private commission as well as creating and building personal designs which are shown in galleries and shows throughout northern California.
He has won numerous prizes and awards for his furniture.