Artisan James Caldwell is the NB Town House Artist of the Month for July

I have never really considered myself to be an artist. I have never considered the pieces that I make as art, or at least not in the sense of art in brush to canvas or chisel to stone.

I began woodworking as a child and having a grandfather, who being a farmer and machinist could make anything, it was an everyday thing done as a necessity, not a hobby.

It wasn’t until much later in life that I started to enjoy the craft, more from a historical value, and began the process of re-creating workmanship results with just hand tools used by the trades for hundreds of years, rather than using power tools.

My projects usually start with an idea or mental image that will pop into my head and progress through finding the right materials and the correct hardware. When choosing the woods I tend to use wood other craftsmen have passed over because of wild grain structure, or woods that just don’t measure up to the quality standards of others. Then I will study a board to find its best side, or for hidden images that if constructed in a certain way will provide for a background to enhance a certain inlay. All the while staying flexible in making changes to the design.

I prefer to do case work, small tables with drawers, period wall cupboards, chests and wall shelves and boxes, keepsake boxes, jewelry boxes. Heirloom quality. I want there to be a story that the piece becomes a part of. Most of my work has been given away to people who have a need, a keepsake box, to someone having lost a loved one, or a jewelry box to a foster child whose only worldly belongings are carried in a trash bag, something that can be theirs not bought but given just to them. 

As time has passed my projects tend to have more “inlay work” as I find is not only a challenge to inlay using only hand chisels and fine veneers but rewarding in the results.

I don’t consider this a career and find the reward in the joy the finished product brings to the new owner and the hope that it may become the one item that will be passed on from generation to generation. My greatest honor (received two years after the fact), was a thank you letter from the grand parents of a Sandy hook victim that I had sent a box I had made and had a blessed at our local parish. Their heartfelt comments will be with me always.

I am what some would call an old school woodworker, where hand tools that were made and used in the 1800’s combined with hand skills make for a rewarding and relaxing experience. I also believe it is up to everyone to try and maintain the skills of the past, as once their holders are gone so are the skills..

Jim is also a long-time volunteer at Old Sturbridge Village where his talents focus on tinning and book binding.  https://www.osv.org/

In Jim’s spare time, he uses his experience with restoration, repair, and maintenance of antique and classic automobiles at Parker’s Packards https://parkerspackards.com/

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