Jeremy Pickett’s introduction to woodworking and furniture making began one summer vacation home from college in the early nineties. In 2000, Jeremy moved to New York to establish a music promotion company. During this set-up time, he fell back on his old woodworking skills and worked part-time for a cabinet maker in Dumbo, Brooklyn to help support himself. After marriage, Jeremy found himself res
toring a townhouse in Manhattan that his wife had just purchased. It also became clear to Jeremy that life on the road as a concert promoter and tour manager needed to come to an end. Jeremy immersed himself into an intensive apprenticeship at an architectural woodworking shop in Jersey City, NJ run by East Germans originally trained in Communist era trade schools. After completing his training, Jeremy became a shop manager and designer for a furniture maker in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. While this opportunity allowed him to grow and mature as a designer, Jeremy missed the physical aspect of working with his hands. He found a children’s furniture company who specialized in modern, solid wood designs that was just starting and he became their lead furniture maker. After the company moved their manufacturing to China, Jeremy found a custom furniture maker in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and continued to work as a furniture maker. The time finally arrived for Jeremy to start his own company. But before doing so, Jeremy and his family decided to take a time out and head out on a yearlong around the world trip. The prevalent use of bamboo and its tensile strength became a source of inspiration for Jeremy. Bamboo could also be considered the most sustainable wood as it often grows faster than it can be harvested. Jeremy was also introduced to the vintage textiles of Mongolia, Russia, and Scandinavia that have now become a part of his upholstered furniture. Jeremy was reminded of the importance of handcraftsmanship while viewing the ancient temples in Japan and Viking ship museums in Norway. After the time spent abroad, Jeremy and his family settled into their new home in Cobble Hill and opened his new workshop in nearby Red Hook. An essential component of Jeremy’s design is to ensure the continuation of the trees’ spirit carries on through to the completed furniture. It’s important that the customer can feel and touch the work and sense a connection between the furniture and its former identity as a living tree. The construction of the furniture plays a vital role in providing this connection. By emphasizing as much of the work as possible be performed by hand and with hand tools, it is desired that the trees’ spirit is disturbed as little as possible. Jeremy also feels the extra hours of manual labor are a way of paying respect and giving sacrifice to the tree. It is through this extra time spent with the wood that the spirit of the tree is able to make its presence known to the craftsman. Once the furniture has been placed in the home, the stories and shared memories of those who own and use the furniture continues to honor and add life to the tree.
