Please introduce yourself.
I am Jane Markham, and I am a woodcraft woman.
Tell us about your favorite art medium. My favorite art medium is creating lasting art pieces while saving our Northern California hardwoods: Black (chocolaty with Fiddleback’s undulating waves) & English (marble-cake) Walnut, Big-Leaf Maple Burls, & vintage Redwood. Walnut trees are harvested after 65 years & most would be burnt or just decay, so I obtain the live-edge pieces & knots and fissures that occur naturally & enhance their uniqueness. I am inspired to continue & evolve bringing beautiful wood back to a new life for many more years.
Who/what is/are your biggest artistic influences? My late husband, Sandy, was a carpenter/contractor with an artistic mind. As well as doing art shows in Southern California in the 70’s, he created unique remodels for many Hollywood stars. He retired after we moved to Grass Valley, so it was the perfect opportunity for us to create wooden art pieces again. We called ourselves Mountain Exotics, a mom & pop business, while traveling & participating in many art shows around the western states. I desired to learn more about each of our machines & the precision it takes as to how each piece came together. So, after he ascended over 15 years ago, my family helped me decide to carry on his legacy of fine woodcraft. George Nakashima was a great influence on our style—using walnut wood to create lasting functional art. This is our favorite quotation by George from his book THE SOUL OF A TREE – “When trees mature, it is fair & moral that they are cut for man’s use, as they would soon decay & return to the earth. Trees have a yearning to live again, perhaps to provide beauty, strength & utility to serve man, even to become an object of great artistic worth.”
What motivates you to create? What motivated me to continue working on my own—with some help from my family—was a shop full of wonderful tools & a canopy of beautiful wood slabs. Luckily, I knew all the basics but I’d say, “This wasn’t my job!” Now it all is! I have focused on bringing out the amazing grain patterns in my wood. Each piece is selected for its beauty & how the individual parts come together—fronts & backs, & legs—to then highlighting the incredible tops.
When is your favorite time of day to create? The afternoon is my creative time in my shop as I study each piece. I band saw, plane, and sand earlier in the day, so they complement each other. I plan each box piece so they will fit & surpass my expectations. Finally, I will make my next day’s agenda as I am designing one-of-a-kind boxes.
Does art help you in other areas of your life? Trees & wood are everywhere in our environment. As ‘The Tree Lady” for over 25 years, I taught children about our forests & the multitude of products from trees we use in our daily lives. I am always looking at the beauty of trees & my artistic use of them will live on & not be destroyed or just left to decay. “KEEP THE SPIRIT OF THE TREE ALIVE”.
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Read Jane’s previous interview here.
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