Bob and Carrie met completing Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees at Purchase College, a small, highly regarded art school north of New York City. Bob studied 3-dimensional design through sculpture and traditional Japanese joinery methods. Carrie completed courses in printmaking, concentrating on 2-dimensional composition through wood and linoleum block prints. The couple discovered their interests merged in the aesthetic integrity of the Arts and Crafts period. This movement, with its appreciation of master craftsmanship, emphasis on visible construction , and consideration of the beauty of colors, patterns, and forms found in nature provided valuable inspiration to the young artists. A renewed interest in Arts and Crafts items made public unique examples from the period. The two visited many New York galleries and auction houses studying the subtler elements of these. They collected measured plans of some of the rarest examples of furniture, taking note of upholstery techniques, finer points of construction and joinery, finishing formulas and methods, and textile designs. Each absorbed the various aspects of their research, incorporating these into their respective work.

Upon graduation, Bob began exhibiting sculpture in group shows at New York galleries, quickly gaining individual representation by the Bill Bace Gallery of SoHo. His work was displayed in solo exhibitions in the U.S. and Canada, and favorably reviewed in ARTnews and Art in America. His sculptures are in many prominent collections, including those of Allen Ginsberg and Edward Albee. Carrie assisted master printers on editions made for U.S. museum collections , studied printmaking in Italy, and later traveled through Europe, researching designs and nature-based patterns shared among block prints, textiles and art tiles. Their success provided the opportunity to shift from separate but related pursuits to a collaborative effort.

Western New York became their new home due to its relevance in the history of the Arts and Crafts Movement. This region has connection with the Gustav Stickley Craftsman Workshops, the Roycroft Campus, the L. & J.G. Stickley Company, Charles Rohlfs, and other influential craftspeople of the period. Bob and Carrie’s skills flourished with the exposure to more rare and original furniture, decorative objects, textiles, and bungalow architecture. Inspired by their surroundings, the couple reproduced furniture, first for their own lakeside bungalow, then for a growing number of private collectors.

While making the first reproductions of historic furniture, Bob also built timber frame homes. He found the similarities between timber frame construction and Craftsman furniture design were complementary; the traditional sensibilities of this carpentry relevant to his work. Carrie employed detail-oriented discipline and skills perfected through printmaking to the rigors of reproducing historic furniture finishes. Discovering a connection between the two processes, she experimented with aniline dyes and shellacs as if mixing printing inks. Decorative patterns from her wood block prints translated into functional textiles like pillows, bed linens, and window panels.

Since 1988, Bob and Carrie have applied their expertise to reproducing Craftsman furniture, adding their complementary skills together with successful results. Creating fine examples equal to the originals in craft, function, and beauty, this couples’ dedication embodies the Craftsman idea that the head, the heart, and the hand can sustain a lifetime’s work.