James Krenov was a woodworker and studio furnituremaker

Studio Furniture

Studio Furniture is a subfield of Studio Craft centered around one-of-a-kind or limited production furniture objects designed and built by craftspeople. The work is made in a craftsperson's studio setting as opposed to being made in a high volume factory...

.

Biography

Jim Krenov was born on October 31, 1920, in the village of Uelen, Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

, the only child of Dimitri and Julia Krenov. He and his family left Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 the following year, and after some time in Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

, China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, they moved to a remote village in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, where his parents worked as teachers. They lived in Alaska for seven years. Jim remembered airplane drops of goods and supplies onto the snow for the villagers. In one of those bundles was a good steel jack-knife

Pocket knife

A pocket knife is a folding knife with one or more blades that fit inside the handle that can still fit in a pocket. It is also known as a jackknife or jack-knife...

. "From the time I was 6, I was making my own toys with the jackknife," Jim told. "It was a joy to me that I could rely on my hands and my eyes to produce things." Eventually, the family moved to Seattle. Jim spent his teen years there, where he developed a love for the sea and began building model boats at first, graduating to sailboats before long. As a young man during World War II, Krenov served as a Russian interpreter for the military when Russian ships docked in Seattle. He also worked for a ship chandler

Ship chandler

A ship chandler is a retail dealer in special supplies or equipment for ships.For traditional sailing ships items that could be found in a chandler might include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch , linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum, tools A ship...

 and spent a great deal of time surrounded by boats. It influenced his aesthetic. He loved the lines of boats: “There's hardly a straight line on them, but there's harmony

Harmony

In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...

. People think right angles produce harmony, but they don't. They produce sleep," Krenov said.

In 1947 Jim and his mother moved to Europe. In Paris, in 1949, he met his future wife, Britta. They were married on March 2, 1951. Jim and Britta traveled together in Italy and France, and spent many summers in the mountains of Sweden where they liked to hike and he fished for trout

Trout

Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...

 in the mountain streams. Always a writer, Krenov published several articles and a novel chronicling these travels.

A friend in Sweden got Krenov a job building wooden architectural models for a restaurant designer; later Krenov got himself a spot at the Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 design school run by Carl Malmsten, considered the father of Scandinavian furniture design. He attended the famous Malmsten school for two years and then struck out on his own, keeping a shop in his basement. Toiling anonymously for years, he gradually built a reputation for his simple design. Once established as a master woodworker, Krenov also began sharing his expertise. "Krenov really helped re-create an interest in fine woodworking that had largely died out by the 1950s," says Frank Ramsay, president of the Bay Area Woodworkers Association, "Such a change from the 'make a box, cover it with plywood and paint it' era of the 1960s." Over time, Krenov received numerous requests to document his design philosophy in book format. In 1976, Krenov’s first book, “A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook” was published. The positive response to that first book surprised Krenov, and he ended up writing four more books including a final book that showcased the work of his students,”With Wakened Hands.”

Krenov taught and lectured about his approach to woodworking at places such as the Rochester Institute of Technology

Rochester Institute of Technology

The Rochester Institute of Technology is a private university, located within the town of Henrietta in metropolitan Rochester, New York, United States...

 in New York, Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

, UC Santa Cruz, Graz

Graz

The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...

, Austria, as a Fullbright guest at New Zealand’s Craft Council, Takayama, Japan, and Anderson Ranch, Colorado. "I traveled all over the world to talk about my work," Krenov said. "These weren't high occasions - just people interested in talking with a craftsman. I'm known as the guy who is always interested in the thing that is both beautiful and useful."

In 1981, Krenov was invited to start the Fine Woodworking Program at the College of the Redwoods

College of the Redwoods

College of the Redwoods is a public two-year community college whose main campus, comprising , is located on the southernmost edge of Eureka in Humboldt County, California. This sprawling site is spacious and distinctive in its modernistic use of massive, exposed wooden support beams in each...

 in Fort Bragg, California. Over the years, people from all over the world would come to the school. He retired from the College of the Redwoods in 2002 but continued to work in wood almost to the end of his life, from a shop at his home. His work is displayed in museums in Sweden, Norway, Japan, and the United States, as well as in the homes of some royal families. He became an Elected Fellow, American Craft Council

American Craft Council

The American Craft Council , was founded in 1943 as a national, nonprofit, educational organization to support and foster interest in the crafts in America. The council sponsers national craft shows, publishes American Craft magazine, and has an extensive awards program...

 in 2000, and was the first non-British recipient of the Annual Award of the Society of Designer-Craftsman's Centennial Medal in 1992. Krenov was presented with The Furniture Society's Award of Distinction

Award of Distinction

The Award of Distinction is conferred annually by The Furniture Society upon one or more living individuals who are recognized as having had a profound impact on the field of Studio Furniture...

 in 2001.

In 2003, Fine Woodworking magazine asked Krenov how he would like to be remembered... He responded, “As a stubborn, old enthusiast."

Krenov died in Fort Bragg, California

Fort Bragg, California

Fort Bragg is a city located in coastal Mendocino County, California along State Route 1, the major north-south highway along the Pacific Coast. Fort Bragg is located west of Willits, at an elevation of 85 feet...

 on September 9, 2009. He was 88 years old.

Influence

Krenov is revered by many craftsmen for his inspiration to bring into one's work simplicity, harmony and above all, a love of wood. Krenov's books A Cabinetmaker's Notebook and The Impractical Cabinetmaker shun ostentatious and overly sculpted pieces, stains, sanded surfaces, and unbalanced or unproportional constructions. Krenov felt that details such as uniformly rounded edges, perfectly flat surfaces, and sharp corners remove the personal touch from a piece of furniture. His books extoll the virtues of clean lines, hand-planed surfaces, unfinished or lightly finished wood, and techniques that Krenov referred to as "honest".

Approach

Although he made a living of his craft, Krenov referred to his attitude towards his work as that of an amateur, feeling that the competitive attitude of a professional causes one to compromise one's values as a craftsman

Master craftsman

A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....

. He avoided calling the conception and creation of a piece as "design

Design

Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...

," preferring a more inclusive term "composing." Composing, explained Krenov, is reacting to the wood, a continual re-evaluation and improvisation open to wherever the wood takes the composer.

In his cabinet

Cabinet (furniture)

A cabinet is usually a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors or drawers for storing miscellaneous items. Some cabinets stand alone while others are built into a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood or, now increasingly, of synthetic...

s and other pieces, Krenov paid careful attention to variations in woodgrain and color in his search for "harmony" in a piece. A self described "wood nut," he often sought out woods that are rare, highly figured, or containing unique coloration. Krenov was also highly critical of those who seek "originality" at the expense of well made furniture.

Although Krenov believed machinery

Woodworking machine

A Woodworking machine is a machine that is intended to process wood. These machines are usually powered by electric motors and are used extensively in woodworking...

 has its place in the shop, (namely to efficiently complete the relatively grueling and crude early stages of stock removal and thicknessing) he felt an over-dependence on power tools removes the "fingerprints" left on the finished piece that only handwork can leave, and alienates the craftsman from his work. Krenov criticized the trend in woodworking schools toward the early use of power tools, instead of building a foundation of hand skills. Instead of focusing on which machinery one should buy, he put emphasis on having well-tuned equipment.

Graduates from Krenov's College of the Redwoods classes have gone on to professional furniture-making, writing craft books, and teaching in many programs throughout the world.

External links

• Krenov's personal web site
• http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/oralhistories/transcripts/krenov04.htmA transcript of an interview with Krenov, stored at the Smithsonian Institution
  Smithsonian Institution
  The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
  
  ]
• The Furniture Society's Award of Distinction
• San Francisco Chronicle story with video from 2008
• New York Times obituary