About Us
I have been working with wood for well over thirty years. After thinking I could master the fine art of woodworking by self-instruction, I realized that some formal training might help. So, with encouragement from my wife and kids, I became a student of the late Berthold Schwaiger at the Chicago Bauhaus Studios. I hope I have absorbed some of his patient, precise approach to design and craftsmanship.
I have always loved the visual and textual qualities of furniture that are made with different types of wood , or which are accented with inlays or tile. Thus, you will see that many of my pieces combine different species of wood that are inlaid with Spanish, Mexican, and Italian tile.
When I first saw Southwest Native American pottery bowls that used turquoise inlays, I was immediately hooked! Learning to turn bowls has been one of the most frustrating, yet rewarding, experiences a wood worker can endure.
El Gallo Woodworking bowls are usually turned ‘wet’, allowed to dry for a short time, which usually means their shape has changed enough be out of round!. They are then turned to their final form. Inlays are used to fill spaces left by the remains of ambrosia beetles and natural fungus growth, giving the finished work its distinctive appearance.