Paul Beeman, owner of Beeman Woodworks

I started my woodworking career as a teenager, working at my mom and stepdad’s small picture framing shop in Seattle, WA. After graduating college with an Econ Degree I went back to the shop to pursue craft in a serious way. My future wife and I moved to Los Angeles in 2015 for her to pursue her PhD and I continued to work in art services, but expanded into broader, more technical fabrications. After hours, employees were generously allowed to stay and work on our own projects. My interest in furniture came from a place of wanting nice furniture, but not being able to afford it. And so I built it myself, often using scraps and offcuts from the waste bin of the shop.

In 2021, we moved to New Jersey for my wife’s post-doc. We decided to live in the small, rural town of Hopewell so that I could build out a shop (and our dog could run around more). In Hopewell, I could pull ash, walnut, and maple logs off the street after a storm. I could buy ten dollar bundles of beautiful red oak (fire wood) and turn them into spindles. I was also a stones throw away from the homes of George Nakashima and Wharton Esherick which was hugely inspirational.

My designs are informed by my surroundings and the places I have lived. I try to allow a certain level of lightness and fun into my work while honoring the history of the craft and the material being used. My goal is for my furniture to have surfaces that feel welcoming, designs that bring the owner of the piece joy, and for it to be built to last generations.

We are now (permanently) located in the beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico where the landscape provides infinite inspiration for new furniture designs.