Doug Merritt
When quite young, I fabricated a 12’ paddle-board with my dad and was hooked for life on woodworking. At 9-10 years old I was carving animal figures, hand sanding them, using shoe polish to add highlights and color.
Thirty years or so later, having graduated from college, marrying, honorably discharged from the armed services, we drove our VW Bus slowly cross-country to California … with our first child on the way. To put food on the table, I hired out to a landlord with 80-90 units of housing who needed a handy-man carpenter plumber. Eventually I met some folks with wood shops and one of them asked me to share his shop and after a few years I became a “street-artist” box maker in Berkeley, CA..
For the last 46 years, then, (fulltime and part-time), I have been creating wooden boxes of various sizes and shapes and selling them. I now use primarily bandsaws and sanders, work with found and recycled wood, especially recycled old growth redwood, “lace birds-eye” redwood burl and redwood root burl. I enjoy collecting and shaping Laurels: California Bay and Oregon Myrtle wood; Black Acacia; Eucalyptus; old growth Douglas Fir; newly found local Olive; Walnut and Cherry, etc.
The boxes are functional sculptures, one of a kind boxes with drawers… standing or reclining like rather “Daliesque” figures. When folks see groupings of them on our display tables they comment on the experience of “relationship” between (and with) them.
To my great joy, one of our sons is now working with me. He has taken the boxes to gallery quality. Yes!
Peace,
Merritt Woodworking
The Technique
The pieces are band-saw based wooden boxes sanded and detailed to a high finish. Danish oil and a thin wax polish coat is used to enhance the natural coloration, texture, luster, and longevity. Care is taken to select unique and rare pieces of wood that often exhibit striking natural features, such as intricate grain-patterns, knots, and barks. This imbues the final product with unexpected beauty and figure. At times it is worked into a state of high opalescence or chatoyancy. Much of our raw wood is sourced sustainably, being either found or recycled/upcycled. The drawers and compartments are lined with velvet or patterned cloth, chosen to compliment the wood and add character.
I frequently use old growth redwood, “lace birds-eye” redwood burl, and redwood root burl, all of which are from sustainably recycled sources. Other woods of particular rarity are aged “Mud-burl” and Oregon Myrtle-wood. I enjoy collecting and shaping many local woods including Black Acacia, Eucalyptus, Bay Laurel, old growth Douglas Fir, Olive, Walnut, Cypress, Madrone, Manzanita, and Cherry. A limited selection of the woods are purchased from forested sources: Padauk, Mahogany, and Aromatic Cedar.