For 40 years, I’ve been designing and making cabinets and fine furniture professionally. My wood art is a natural extension of my love of wood, from coffee tables, and my drawings were born out of that. I’ve included some of my previous custom woodworking installations there: ranging from residential, office and commercial: conference tables, desks, wall treatment, cabinets, bars, bedrooms and more.

Now I make wood art! You can explore categories of particular interest or start with a collection of my 20 favorite wood art pieces.

The natural wood art is made of selected hardwoods, including Tiger Maple and Mahogany, cut by jigsaw, shaped and polished by random orbital and hand sanding from 60 to 2000, and finished either with mineral or Danish oil, or instead high-gloss polyurethane sprayed and then rubbed on after a couple of buffs. Some of them (in particular, the snakes, shapes/gems, and butterfly) are also painted with aniline dye, in monochrome or multicolor designs. They ranging in size from 18” x 6” up to 5′ x 3′, and — in the case of the snakes — from 22” x 1” to 48” x 2.5” wide.

The same is true of the wooden American flags, which are made of Tiger Maple: milled stripes, 50 laser-cut stars in the blue field. The flags by themselves are 31” x 17”. Framed flag range from 39” x 25” to 45” x 31” and come in both Tiger Maple and Cherry. For the snakes, the stripes of the Tiger Maple take on the appearance of the rings of their skins or the movement of their undulating bodies. For the flags, the Tiger Maple gives the effect of the rippling of a flag in the wind.

Tiger Maple is a remarkably special wood, and I particularly enjoy working with it. Why work with Tiger? In rare cases, maple trees produce wood with incredibly prominent figure, in a wavy, holographic pattern. Finished with Danish oil or high-gloss polyurethane, unstained or multicolored in aniline dyes, my art — American flags, abstract figures, a variety of animals and people — really shows off all that makes Tiger so special and valued. The high-gloss finish especially magnifies the richness of the colors and pops out the Tiger figure. Whether set on the coffee table or hung on a wall, and in some case also used as a cane, my art becomes a highlight wherever it is placed.

The print art are graphite drawings, which are framed 11” x 17” pieces. Sometimes an item consists of several prints grouped together with a unifying theme and sometimes a print is coupled with wood art pieces.

In this online space currently under construction, I share a small (and growing) sampling of my work.

You can also contact me to arrange a visit at my home in Brighton, MA.

Thanks again for taking a look!

Monte