Craig likes to refer to his pieces as "Mother Nature's work - I just polish it up." His finished products reflect just that.
Craig began his love of working with redwood in 1976 when a friend in Albion showed him a slab redwood burl. He was so awed by its beauty that he went right out and purchased a 1959 one ton Ford flatbed winch truck and immediately began his collection of redwood burls and roots. He still collects, salvaging his wood from logging sites as well as, beaches and rivers in Mendocino county. His collection is so extensive that he and several friends have wholesaled raw wood to woodworkers from northern most California down to San Francisco bay.
In 1984, under the guidance of one of his redwood slab clients, learned to create a range of beautifully designed and finished tables, desks, benches and outdoor furnishing. Today Craig not only works in redwood, but black walnut, madrone, maple, manzanita, douglas fir, cypress and the very rare, nutmeg.
Craig took his collection one step further in 1999 when he opened Mendocino Redwood Burl, crafting and selling redwood burl tables and furniture locally and later, to internet buyers from all across the United States. He joined the Elk Studio Gallery in 2003 and two years later, became part owner of the Gallery's second iteration, The Artists' Collective in Elk when he partnered up with Jim and Lu Vickery.
All of Craig's pieces are made from recycled and lawfully obtained and supplied wood - he is fondly referred to as a "wood hog" because of his ability to scrounge in the most unlikely places.
