Richmond’s appreciation for finely crafted furniture began in Colonial days, and it continues today as artisans use their creative talents to produce a wide range of work. In workshops tucked away in Scott’s Addition, Manchester, backyards and shared studios, local woodworkers are creating functional and decorative furniture, housewares and art. Some artisans are faithful to 200-year-old details, while others push beyond the conventional to show us how meaning can infuse the medium. Meet three craftspeople whose diverse work is rooted in early days spent in their fathers’ workshops.
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Daniel Rickey in his studio with a handcrafted walnut stool featuring a sculpted seat (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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Rickey’s updated take on the classic ladder-back chair features a nestling angled back held together with exposed splines. (Photo courtesy Daniel Rickey)
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Rickey’s “Taper” credenza is a study in contrasts, with bi-fold doors in scorched white oak juxtaposed against light maple casing. (Photo courtesy Daniel Rickey)
Daniel Rickey
Born to a father who enjoyed making things with his hands, Daniel Rickey and his three brothers were called into service early on. “My dad was always building furniture and doing different projects,” he recalls. “We were like a little workforce.” That early exposure made an imprint that set his life’s course.
Years later, after a stint in business school, Rickey took a woodworking class in the craft department at Virginia Commonwealth University. That, plus a job working for local woodworker and mentor Andrew Flint, was the first step toward a successful vocation that’s earned Rickey a reputation as one of Richmond’s most innovative craftsmen.
He was encouraged by Flint to attend Rockingham Community College in Reidsville, North Carolina, for a two-year program to study fine and creative woodworking. The 2008 recession had hit home, so it seemed like a good time to go back to school, Rickey says: “It was the first time I got A’s. They were teaching me stuff I could use. It was about as traditional as it gets. There wasn’t much design, but more techniques, like joinery, which I needed to learn.”
Back in Richmond, Rickey began taking on jobs. “Birdhouses, refinishing, anything. My goal was to make furniture,” he says. The odds and ends helped him hone his skills and imagination, and in 2016, he launched his furniture business at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond’s Craft + Design Show, where he received the Friends of the Wood Studio at VisArts Wood and Recycled Materials Award.
Today, he stays busy with commissions and travels to craft shows, where he exhibits his work made in a Scott’s Addition studio shared with several other woodworkers and metalworkers.
Rickey’s work is distinguished by bends and unexpected ripples that make the medium seem like taffy, not walnut or maple. Tables, chairs and cabinets delight with varied colors, designs and shapes, all of which are choices he makes as he selects just the right wood and grain. Traditional aspects such as mortise-and-tenon or dovetail joints are combined with an updated aesthetic.
“I get inspiration from Midcentury furniture — clean lines,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to update it in a way that is current and timeless at the same time … not a fad.”
Maple, walnut, white oak and cherry are some of his preferred woods. One of his tables is topped with scorched white oak, achieved with a Japanese technique that involves using a wire brush on wood burned with a blowtorch. For 2017’s Craft + Design show, Rickey made a credenza, a media/bar cabinet, a round table and stools, along with some bottle openers to offer an item with broad appeal. His booth was crowded with friends and fans eager to see his new work.
What he likes best about his vocation, Rickey says, is “the satisfaction of finishing a piece and seeing how it turns out. There's always that moment in the process where you start to see the thing coming together ... that’s exciting. It really makes me forget about all of the bumps in the road or missteps that might have occurred, which are always there in some form.”
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Alicia Dietz built this contemporary mahogany fireplace surround with an off-center mantel that can be repositioned to be symmetrical. (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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Dietz’s “Through the Looking Glass” tables are made from bent ash and glass. They inter-lock and can be configured in multiple ways. (Photo courtesy Alicia Dietz)
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This live-edge table is crafted from walnut and is almost 10 feet long. “I wanted to design something that had a live-edge feel and didn’t just look like it was stuck on a base,” Dietz says. She also made the artwork, which features a series of image transfers of maps on mirrored glass. (Photo by Justin Chesney)
Alicia Dietz
For Alicia Dietz, woodworking is a nostalgic reminder of childhood hours spent playing in the shop of her father and grandfather. It’s also her preferred way of expressing herself creatively and honoring fellow military veterans, whose stories inform her work.
Dietz grew up near Akron, Ohio. After high school, she studied advertising and journalism at Ohio University, but she did not stay on that path. Having been in the ROTC program, she joined the Army, where she served as a Black Hawk pilot, flying test missions and working as a company commander in Egypt and Alaska. During her 10 years in the Army, she occasionally spent time in the Morale, Welfare and Recreation facilities, where she gravitated to the woodshop.
When Dietz completed her service, she wanted to learn more technical woodworking skills, so she enrolled at Vermont Woodworking School. “It’s a very traditional place rooted in the craft,” she says. Her experience there served as a solid foundation for moving forward. Next, she spent a summer in San Diego as an intern with acclaimed woodworker Wendy Maruyama. “She was one of the first woman woodworkers and is known for using concept in her work,” Dietz says. “It was life-changing to be around her. She encouraged me to put my experiences into my work.”
Maruyama also encouraged Dietz to go to graduate school. Dietz chose to attend Virginia Commonwealth University to be near her partner, who was living in Richmond, and she earned her MFA in craft and material studies in 2016. She now works full time as a woodworker in her North Side studio.
Dietz describes her work as contemporary in style, incorporating mixed media such as glass, image transfer and carving. “I’m obsessed with maps,” she says, owing to her previous life in the sky, where the view was always aerial. When working on commissions, she keeps the client’s story in mind, combining their interests with her craftsmanship. “I love the collaborative process with clients,” she says.
Signature details such as carving, one of her favorite techniques, can be seen in most of her work, including a highly textural armoire she made for a client — the exterior features a hand-carved map of Denali and the Alaskan Range, and the interior is full of cubbies specially made for rock climbing equipment.
Particularly reflective of her desire to honor the community of people she served with in the military is a large art installation piece titled “Collective Cadence.” Using birch, hickory, maple, walnut and image transfers on aluminum and glass, Dietz crafted frames that contain the stories of veterans, 130 so far. “It’s about giving voices to veterans,” Dietz explains, “and breaking through stereotypes about what a veteran is.”
Not all of Dietz’s work is referential, but whether she’s cutting out 1,200 circles for a playful installation at Mellow Mushroom in Midlothian or making plans for a new project, Dietz is happy with the variety. “I love what I’m doing,” she says. “I get up every day excited to get to work.”
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Harrison Higgins V, in his Scott’s Addition workshop, works on a triangle mahogany side table with cabriole legs. (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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A custom-made North Carolina sideboard in walnut and yellow pine (Photo by Double Image Studio)
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Higgins reproduced this mahogany Philadelphia side chair. The original is on the left and dates to the 18th century. (Photo by Double Image Studio)
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This chest-on-chest in mahogany and white pine is a copy of a Benjamin Frothingham original. (Photo by Double Image Studio)
Harrison Higgins V
As a child, Harrison Higgins V spent a lot of time in Harrison Higgins Inc., the woodworking shop of his father, Harrison Higgins IV. “When I was really little, he’d put a piece of wood in a vise and let me work on sawing it in half,” Higgins V recalls. Higgins’ grandfather, Dr. Billy Higgins, was a woodworking hobbyist who helped out at his son's shop after he retired. Thus, three generations have had their hands in the success of this business that specializes in handcrafting reproductions of 18th-century furniture.
Harrison Higgins V earned an English degree at Davidson College but chose to follow in his dad’s footsteps. He already had plenty of experience. During his middle- and high-school years, he says, “My dad needed me in the shop to do some of the grunt labor. … There were times I didn’t like it and times I did. There was a nice sense of camaraderie in the shop.” (Higgins V is the son of R•Home gardening columnist Susan Higgins.)
Father and son worked together for 12 years before the elder Harrison retired three years ago and left the shop in his son’s hands. Higgins says they’ve had a smooth transition. His dad still comes into the shop and works on a few projects, and Higgins still has questions for his father. He’s grateful to him for assembling a great team of woodworkers, many of whom stayed during the transition from father to son. “I give them a lot of credit,” Higgins says. “We have a very deep bench of skilled men and women.”
The shop specializes in crafting reproductions of 18th-century furniture. “We work with hand tools at a workbench with hand planes, chisels, files and brushed-on finishes,” he says. “The bulk of it is done by hand because the originals were made in a pre-industrial time.” This expertise is valued and widely employed by historic sites such as Monticello, Mount Vernon, Montpelier and Colonial Williamsburg. “Two particularly challenging and rewarding projects that I’ve made were the secretary bookcase in the library at Monticello and the bed and dressing table in the blue room at Mount Vernon,” Higgins says.
The shop works mostly with mahogany, walnut, cherry and maple because those were the woods primarily used in the 18th century. The nature of work done with those beautiful grains varies greatly. One year, Higgins says, they might make two 25-foot dining tables, and another year they’ll do no dining tables but maybe four sets of chairs. Sometimes they are completing a set — a client has one chair and needs five more to match. “We make pieces nobody can find elsewhere,” he says. One such commission was a lamp post with a carving of a squirrel on top.
While little has changed since Higgins IV retired, his son has introduced a monthly subscription to the shop’s evening woodworking classes. “You can come in with your own project, or we can help you find one. If you make a piece, you have a whole new appreciation for the work that goes into it.”
Made for You
The next time you’re in the market for new furniture, why not consider a locally made, custom piece? Here is a sampling of some local and Virginia makers who work in a variety of styles.
Bohnhoff Furniture
With a background in boat building, David Bohnhoff creates handcrafted contemporary furniture featuring many of the curved and round forms he worked with in constructing boats. bohnhoffurniture.com
Christina Boy
Boy combines her love of classic modern styles with her rural, rustic environment in Madison, Virginia, to create pieces that have simple and clean lines with playful elements of color, texture and pattern. christinaboy.com
Iron Oak Furniture
Kyle Harkness creates functional statement pieces using locally sourced, reclaimed wood and hand-welded and -finished metals. ironoakrva.com
Method Woodworking
Method specializes in custom cabinetry, furniture and millwork for every room in the home. methodwoodworking.com
Kyle Lucia of Phoenix Handcraft (Photo by Ash Daniel)
Phoenix Handcraft
The husband-and-wife team of Kyle Lucia and Johannah Willsey craft mosaics, furniture and sculpture from forged steel and reclaimed wood. phoenxihandcraft.com
Suter’s Handcrafted Furniture
Suter’s classic and traditional furniture features dovetailed drawers, hand-turned bedposts and beautiful finishes, with options for customization. suters.com
Owen Suter’s Fine Furniture
These artisans create bench-made furniture with the characteristics of fine antiques, using solid mahogany, walnut, cherry and tiger maple. Stock designs, reproductions and custom pieces. owensuters.com
Virginia Build Works
With a shop in Front Royal, George “Mac” McIntyre crafts one-of-a-kind furniture pieces from local hardwoods. virginiabuildworks.com
Wellborn + Wright
This salvaged-wood purveyor also creates custom millwork and furniture; including tables, seating and shelves from a wide variety of woods, combined with glass and assorted metals. wellbornwright.com
Zietz Handmade Heirloom Furniture
Jeremy Zietz uses traditional handmade furniture techniques and a careful design process to create modern-day heirlooms. zietzfurniture.com
