Austin Heitzman
If Gandolf was a woodworker in Oregon.
Before I ramble, please let me introduce you to Austin. His work is cool.
Feast your eyes.
These are a few takes that I pulled from his website.
The guy is an absolute animal. He is able to develop structure from what would otherwise be unyielding or unstable material. Look at the burl, and grain. Holy crap.
He makes some seriously top end furniture, exactingly designed and executed with the precision of someone who appears not to be improvising. This is astonishing to me because he must be improvising. His work is completely unorthodox. It is sharp and smooth and simultaneously chaotic.
Alright. His work is, indeed, cool.
Why should you be interested in Austin Heitzman if you aren’t in the market for spending top dollar on high end hand-crafted furniture from the pacific northwest? The guy is a great teacher and unlike most woodworking instructors he isn’t afraid of computers. He runs a very decent webinar class using Zoom from his workshop. He offers multiple courses and has the range to serve beginners, through to the most experienced cabinetmaker.
He taught me a lot and demonstrated an open-mindedness that I didn’t know I was needing for growth. I found his class at a time when I was really needing some ideas, and he left a good impression on me. He has even been supportive after the lesson was ended. Offering advice and answering questions. General good guy kind of behavior.
I spend a lot of time trying to understand how process influences the final result. I feel like I am constantly changing my procedures to see if the results follow. I have an idea in mind of what I want to achieve in terms of touch-finish at the end of project but have struggled with actually achieving a finish that is close to that vision. Austin helped me move the ball a little closer to the goal. I appreciate him.