Instructors
Tom McLaughlin
Tom learned to appreciate the fine arts aspect of woodworking in his teens, but an apprenticeship with 73-year old P.A. “Pug” Moore launched his 21 years of making furniture professionally. Tom’s emphasis on combining exceptional materials with traditionally inspired designs has led to his work being acquired by notable museums. Tom is a regular contributor to Fine Woodworking Magazine, and his work has been featured in The New York Times, Wood Magazine, Traditional Home Magazine. He has also received several design awards from the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen.
Tom has been teaching furniture making classes since 1998 and most recently Tom has had the privilege of hosting Classic Woodworking, a PBS TV show that airs nationally. Also, since 2019, along with his wife Kris (aka “The Camera Lady”), he also produces and hosts a weekly livestream event called Shop Night Live where he spends an hour or more demonstrating about a woodworking related topic, technique or tip.
One of Tom’s proudest accomplishments was serving for 3 years as Chairman of the New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association (NHFMA), an organization he has been a member of since 1998. Tom also coordinates NHFMA’s Prison Outreach Program at the NH State Prison, through which inmates receive individual and workshop training as a rehabilitation effort.
Mike Pekovich
For more, visit Mike’s website: pekovichwoodworks.com
Author of The Why and How of Woodworking and Foundations of Woodworking, Fine woodworking’s Editor and Creative Director, Mike Pekovich has been making furniture and teaching people to woodwork for
most of his career.
During his 25-year tenure at the magazine, Mike’s focus has been on making the craft easier for those of us that struggle day to day in our shops. While books and magazines are a great way to reach a wide audience,
Mike’s passion is in working one-on-one with students, and teaching provides that opportunity. “Some things just don’t make sense until I can get a tool in your hand and show you the right way to go about a task. That’s where the most important teaching gets done.”
David Lamb
For more, visit David’s website: davidlambfurniture.com
David Lamb’s career started in Canterbury, NH more than 50 years ago when his family moved to Canterbury Shaker Village to run the Shaker museum there. Living within the historical setting and having a personal friendship with the six remaining Shakers gave him a unique insight into that segment of American folklife and the Shaker artistic and architectural output. Within a year of moving to Canterbury David was invited to be an apprentice with next door neighbor, Alejandro de la Cruz, an accomplished and traditionally trained cabinetmaker from Madrid.
The classic training David received over the three year period was thorough and focused on benchwork and all hand techniques and long discussions on design, proportion, aesthetics and the business of being a craftsman. Heavy emphasis on traditional American and European technique and form predominated the shop’s output.
Contemporary art school was next at Boston University’s Program in Artistry with Jere Osgood and Alphonse Mattia as teachers for his degree in Applied Arts. Thinking in non- traditional ways of creating form and aesthetic ideas was instrumental here.
It is these three aspects that drives David’s design and work; classical form and integrity, Shaker directness and function and contemporary rethinking of graphic aesthetic and methods to accomplish them. In addition to these exposures, nature has played a huge part in what motivates David’s design, both in form and detail by constantly drawing flowers and plants, carving them and incorporating these and other natural aspects in his work.
During his career he has been a 40 year juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and has served as juror for over a decade. He is a founding member of the Guild of NH Woodworkers and regular contributor to their highly acclaimed Journal and is a founding member of The New Hampshire Furniture Masters Association where he has served as chairman for three terms. He was appointed New Hampshire Artist Laureate by Gov. John Lynch for two terms from 2010-2014. David also was a participant presenting traditional furniture making at The Smithsonian Folklife Festival representing NH in 1999 in Washington, DC.
The Currier Museum of Art recently commissioned “The New Hampshire Secretary”, a new and graphically exciting major piece of furniture for their permanent collection. In 2021 David was awarded the prestigious Cartouche Award by The Society of American Period Furniture Makers. This recognition reflects the highest honor for this art form.
Throughout his career as a full time furniture maker he has had innumerable furniture making opportunities building the highest level of historical work and just as important, pieces that rethink what tradition could mean. Collaborations with other artists and craftsmen play a big part in David’s work but mostly the insightful feedback and exceptional contributions from his wife, Janet.
Andrew Hunter
See more of Andrew’s work on Instagram: @andrewhunter_furniture
Andrew is a custom furniture maker working and living in New York’s Hudson Valley. Best known for his use of traditional Japanese hand tools, Andrew demonstrates and teaches across the country.
As a self-taught woodworker, he offers a unique perspective to other Americans exploring Eastern woodworking. His workshops demonstrate that by understanding the fundamental principles behind other cultures’ tools and techniques, all woodworkers can benefit.
A frequent contributor to Fine Woodworking magazine, he is eager to share what he has learned in his 25-plus years of making furniture.