About Jim

This is where I do my woodworking.

Hello.  I’m Jim Paulson.  I’ve been doing woodworking since I was three years old.   As a youngster I developed a love for woodworking by watching my father build things around the house using hand tools.  Dad was good at carpentry and remodeling, and also boat building.   I got interested in furniture making when I was in Junior High and High School.  By the time I finished college in 1981, Roy Underhill was on PBS with The Woodwright’s Shop and I soon developed a passion for using antique tools.  By 1984,  I also became a woodcarver.   In the 90′s, I learned Scandinavian folk figure carving from Harley Refsal and I was trained in chip carving by Wayne Barton, an internationally known chip carver.  

Along the way, I have built a number of shaker furniture pieces, pine country furniture, and Windsor chairs.  I have in some cases incorporated  chip carving to make a piece individualistic.  It might be carved panels on a hutch or a carved lid on a tool chest.  Those are just a couple examples.   One of my carvings, a triptych, a rendition of  Albrecht Durer’s woodcut entitled “The Trinity,” is on display in the chapel of Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove, Il.   Bottomline, woodworking for me is God given calling.  I thank God for the people who have given me woodworking skills, especially Mike Dunbar and the staff at The Windsor Institute.