My Story
When I was young, I would sit in my grandfather's garage while he worked on whatever project he had at the time. Whether he was restoring old furniture or creating something new, he always had his hands busy making something.
I would, unfortunately, not realize the lessons he instilled in me until much later in life. After getting out of the Army in 2012, I enrolled at Illinois State University, where I discovered the amazing world of Glassblowing. In this program, under the tutelage of John Miller, I rediscovered the maker in me.
I absorbed everything I could about the world of hot glass and combined it with mixed media every chance I got. It was at this time I remembered the lessons in woodworking and began to explore and build upon the knowledge I had.
In 2017 I had my first art show. After graduation, I decided that I didn't want to stop creating. Making was a part of me that I had planned on fully embracing. I slowly began to buy the tools and materials I would eventually need, and began to work on absorbing all the knowledge that I could from those in the Maker world. In March of 2018, I launched Disbanded Designs as a small part time hobby shop and started taking orders.
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I didn’t start life out in the wood shop. In fact, I only started turning a lathe about a year ago. I’ve pursued a wide range of passions — photography, cooking, baking, glass-blowing, bowling, billiards, & the list goes on.
While I'm a sports enthusiast & love competition, I find true fulfillment in my creative hobbies. From my culinary military training I learned to bake and prepare meals for hundreds. Then, in college I found new mediums of visual art that I could share with my friends as well.
Everything I make is initially destined for personal enjoyment but without fail it always winds up being shared with those around me. This is what motivates my work.
What led me to woodworking? It's difficult to say exactly. I was planning to open a glass-blowing studio and work in the field of criminal justice/social work. When life circumstances brought me back to my hometown, my garage became a place of solace where I had free reign to build a custom woodworking workshop.
The thing about woodworking is that it starts with an organic material and is transformed into a timeless piece of functional art. Let the products you find on my site fill your home with the same personal enjoyment they bring to me while in the process. Let the life from these hand-selected woods live on by your spirit and joy.