Creative Woodworks & crafts 2004-09, страница 64

Steve Levine

"Woodcrafter and Artist

by Wes Demaresf

fit • Creative Woodworks S. Crafts September 2004

Combining Skill and Product Diversity

Steve Levine has been a professional woodworker most of his life, getting his siart ai his father's side and pursuing it further by becoming a shop teacher after graduating college. His teaching continued for 15 years, but as rewarding as it was, he changed careers pretty much by accident. Steve was at a crafl show in Lake George, New York, 26 years ago, and after looking at Ihc woodworking projects being offered for sale he felt that he could do a better job himself. Upon his return home, he started on a venture that would become his new career. The following year found him back at Lake George selling his new-line of toys, but it didn't take him long to learn that if you are going to rely on shows for a living, you have to develop your business sense and market awareness in order to stay solvent.

His leg up was his woodworking skills. Fit, finish, and production setup requirements were old hat to him; now all he had to do was develop a product line that fit into style trends, then get juried in to the best shows available. And that he did: from Ann Arbor to Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and a few others (including wholesale shows). On top of thai, the turnings in the above photo have been selected for permanent

display at the Noyes Museum in Oceanville, New Jersey, and Sieve received from the New Jersey Council on the Arts a grant that funded his lathe.

[f there is a secret to Steve's success, it is his product diversi ly. If an item doesn't sell it is costing him money, so he is constantly watching market trends and developing products that fit into today's lifestyles. It does not matter to him what the item is—if it can be made from wood by any means (scrolling, turning, or whatever), he will find a way to make it ai a price poinl that is acceptable lo him and his customers. From there, it is a matter of production, of which the following is an example.

Early in his career, Steve moved out of toys and into marquetry because at that time the latter was selling well. This bowl, which measures 25" in diameter, is an example of his marquetry work.