Art of the Grain

Art of the Grain is a collection of Minnesota based wood artists who are passionate about their art and who value distinctive design, quality materials, and meticulous construction. Their unique pieces highlight the natural beauty of wood. Through their exhibits, Art of the Grain members hope to expand awareness of custom-made furniture as a viable option for those who appreciate quality design and construction. 

About the Artists:

Jake Brown, Platypus Builds

Jake began woodworking in Roanoke, Virginia in 2013. He spent time in construction as well as millwork. In 2018 he graduated from the Fine Woodworking Immersion program at Vermont Woodworking School. After graduating, Jake moved to Minneapolis focusing on a career in custom furniture. https://www.platypusbuilds.com/ 

TiAnna DeGarmo, Furniture by DeGarmo

TiAnna’s journey in wood began as a little girl working alongside her father building homes. She worked in the intensive field of architectural millwork throughout her 20's and 30's, and now owns Furniture by DeGarmo and creates studio furniture in Lanesboro, Minnesota. TiAnna strives to create designs that are beautiful to behold and pleasurable to handle while being simple, clean, and useful. https://www.furniturebydegarmo.com/

Yana Frank, Yana Frank Design

Originally from Germany, Yana Frank has lived in Minneapolis for almost 30 years. After studying architecture, she apprenticed in a wood shop in order to learn the practical aspects of furniture making. After years of working as a craftsperson, she recently started her own business combining her woodworking skills with her passion for design. Yana creates unique pieces inspired by the grain and character of the woods she works with and loves creating custom designs for customers combining beauty with functionality. https://yanafrankdesign.com/

Richard Helgeson, Richard Helgeson Furniture

Richard’s work is a mixture of speculative, residential, and liturgical furnishings and accessories. He strives to produce work that is simple, nuanced, and enduring. http://www.richardhelgeson.com/

Craig Jentz, WoodZest

Craig’s forte is incorporating graceful curves into the objects he designs and builds. He values creative design and working outside the boundaries of standard production furniture. Wood is a beautiful medium, and his pieces are meant to accent the natural beauty of the wood and its grain. http://woodzest.com/

Craig Johnson, Studio Tupla

Craig is a woodworker with a calm, sensitive approach to design. He has a deep appreciation for the process of working with properly tuned hand tools, and a reverence for the natural beauty of trees and the infinite variety of forms they can take. He honed his craft at Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking in Roberts Creek, British Columbia. https://studiotupla.com/

Roger Knudson

Roger builds furniture and “wood art” mostly for fun and occasionally for profit. He makes original designs with full intent to have his work be interesting, attractive, and even somewhat useful. rwknudson@frontiernet.net

Bob Kraby

Bob has always had a need to create. Sculpting, sketching, painting, building, and carving. It’s the pleasure he receives from crafting something beautiful that drives his passion. woodkraby@yahoo.com

Mark Laub, Mark Laub Studios

Mark aspires, as William Blake suggests, “to see the world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wildflower”. Mark has been making artful objects for over 25 years and has shown his work in galleries and juried exhibitions across the country. He has received numerous awards from the Smithsonian and American Craft Council. http://www.marklaub.com/

Steph Lunieski, Lefty Design Co.

Stephanie is a furniture maker and runs her design and fabrication company, Lefty Design Co. Out of her studio she has been designing and building award winning custom furniture, cabinetry, and objects. Stephanie learned the ins and outs of woodworking and furniture design at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine. She is honored to create beauty with her clients in the homes and spaces of Minnesota and beyond. https://www.leftydesignco.com/

Ed Neu, MapleRock Woodworks

Ed is an award-winning designer and builder of custom and reproduction furniture, and wooden treasures that come in many shapes and sizes and fulfill many purposes. He enjoys providing heirloom quality solutions for people – creating a custom piece of furniture to fit in a specific location or provide a unique set of features. Designing and crafting a piece to coordinate with existing furniture is particularly rewarding – both to him and his clients. https://www.maplerockwoodworks.com/

Michael Nesnidal

Mike is a self-taught woodworker with an addiction to cherry, walnut, and maple. His approach to furniture design typically combines delicate structures with gentile curves and interesting wood figure. Despite being an engineer by training, his design process does not involve detailed drawings or scale models. Everything is eye-balled, and the wood has an equal say in the process. mness4@yahoo.com

Thomas Schrunk, Thomas R. Schrunk

Thomas has been a practicing artist since 1977. He describes himself as an “Artist in Lustrous Materials” and has worked in many media besides wood including photography, art glass, painting, and lustrous concrete. His artwork has been in the collections of Ronald Reagan, Bob Hope, Sophia Loren, and the Prince & Princess of Jodhpur, amongst others in the US, Europe, and Asia. Amongst the high points in his career have been five Art Case pianos for Steinway & Sons of New York. https://www.thomasschrunk.com/

Greg Stevens

Greg trained as a woodworker in Kentucky in the mid 70’s. Finding the constraints of classic woodworking confining, Greg builds sculptural furniture, blending wood growths, such as burls and branches, with traditional cabinetry, creating a balance between natural and human made elements. The finishes are often created using hand tools, otherwise he takes an “any tool goes” approach to achieve his vision. He uses old traditional processes, such as ammonia fuming, to color and finish his pieces. Various types of glass are often used in his work, both for their own beauty and to add a “see through” sense of lightness.  gregstevensworkshop@gmail.com 

About Artistry: 

Artistry is a producing theater and visual arts nonprofit serving a regional audience of more than 82,000 people through stage productions, exhibitions, lifelong arts learning, and arts-centered community development. In pursuit of artistic excellence, we engage our region’s most talented artists in work that welcomes and develops audiences and opens hearts and minds.

Gallery Location and Hours:

The Inez Greenberg Gallery is located on the first floor of the Bloomington Center for the Arts at 1800 W. Old Shakopee Road in Bloomington, MN. Current gallery hours are Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Saturday 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m., Sunday 12:00 – 6:00 p.m.

There is no admission fee.

Image:  Chrysalis Coffee Table, TiAnna DeGarmo