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My daughter Beatrice (9) approaching my newest big table. #3laketable

My view looking out the north end of my studio today!

Love the way this one lights up in the sun. I just added this new triptych to my website...gregklassen.com #riverdivided #rivercollection

Spent today with this talented fellow creative getting interviewed for his new long-form podcast and a video feature. We talked family life, long road trips, being a poor artist who delivers phone books for money, and homeschooling...all subjects I’m well versed in

I can’t stop staring at the details on this console I just finished up #twolakeconsole #riverconsole #riverconsoletable #rivercollection

We spent the day hiking with friends (visiting from Amsterdam 🇳🇱) at Artist Point. It’s a place considered one of the most beautiful alpine areas in North America and it’s a little more than hour from our home, but we haven’t been in 5 years! What?!! Funny how when you have friends visiting from far away you take stock of where you live so that you can bring them to the very best spots. Tomorrow we go in search of whales in the San Juan Islands, and the next day who knows. But hopefully this visit will inspire us to continue to explore the wonders that exist right under our nose. And we plan to return soon to Artist Point...perhaps on a Sunday afternoon with some lawn chairs, a picnic basket, some coffee and a sketch book. With the fresh mountain air, clear lakes, green meadows and the soft white noise of distant waterfalls, it’s hard to imagine a better place to spend the day.

Just received a commission for a really big River Table that I’ll be creating for a villa on this island...woo-hoo! I gave my client the option to fly me out and personally install the table when it’s done next year. Fingers crossed they go for it 🤞🤞 It’s a 25 hour flight with a connection in Dubai. Can anyone guess the name of this crazy beautiful island?? {winner gets a high five}

Just returned from a camping trip with some great friends in the North Cascades National Park - @northcascadesnps - this past weekend. This park is tucked up near the border between Washington and BC and a hidden gem in the national park system. Lots of pure unspoiled nature, glaciers, waterfalls, creeks, and lakes that possess the same colors I try to emulate in my work.

My boy turns 6 today. Oliver is kind of a trendy name these days, but we named him about 15 years ago, long before he was born or knowing we would get a boy. We just had a feeling that he would someday find his way into our family. After starting our family with two girls, 6 years ago today he finally showed up. Oliver was named after the green Oliver tractors that I grew up riding around our farm in California. They were a signature part of our family’s fruit farm, my dad often driving a 100 miles to go and get one when they’d appear in the classifieds. We had a half dozen or so of them on the farm and much of my childhood was spent on my dad’s lap on those tractors, and later steering them around our peach fields on my own as an after school/weekends/summer job. Oliver was born just a year or so before I lost my dad. That period of my life was a passing of the two most important men in my life - one passing into this world and the other passing out of it. It was a time of tremendous grief but also great joy. As one was losing the ability to walk, one was beginning to toddle around the house. As one was losing himself to dementia, the other was soaking life up like a sponge. As one was finding it difficult to speak, the other was charming us with the joyful noise of his giggle. For these reasons, my bond with my son is special in ways that are a challenge to articulate. I feel a deep emotional bond with each of my kids, but there’s something different with him. When I look at him, I see that boy on my dad’s lap riding the tractor. And when I play catch with him on a Sunday afternoon, I see my dad in myself. It’s a special thing to have a son and I cherish the moments we have together. Me and my Jr. Ranger together with our family are heading into the Cascades this weekend for some camping, hiking and probably playing some catch in the forest. Happy birthday Oliver. (PS. His middle name is Abe, just like mine, which makes his initials “OAK”. How’s that for a woodworker’s son!) #oliverabe

I’m putting this Flower Table on an airplane to Switzerland this week. Wish I could go along! ✈️🇨🇭 #klassenflowertable

#tbt My earliest River Cabinet. First photo from the day I finished it, the second from the day I delivered it. Made entirely from maple wood boards that I hand-picked from a farmer friend’s hay loft. #rivercabinet #riversideboard #rivertable #klassenrivertable #rivercollection

Here’s a console table I sent to a collector in Pennsylvania a couple weeks back. (This table will live in the same home as my #grandcanyonrivertable ) I am currently sold out of console tables but have a sweet bronze one on the way that’s lake-inspired. If you’re ever looking for something on my website and can’t find it, or it’s sold, feel free to reach out...I may be working on something that’s perfect for your space! #rivertable #klassenrivertable #riverconsoletable #rivercollection

Here’s a detailed look at my Archipelago Table, shipped last week to its new home in Westborough, Mass. This was the first piece in a new series that explores the relationship between the submerged and exposed layers of island chains (aka archipelagos). Next up in this series is a commission for an archipelago dining table. How fun would it be to have a waterfront, island view while you bite into your burrito?! + #waterfrontdining #archipelagoseries #archipelagotable #klassenrivertable #rivertable #rivercollection

Mini mockups for a pair of small side tables I’m proposing to a client. When put together, the river continues through the tops and waterfalls down each of the sides.

Family delivery trip to Seattle today, dropping off this 8’ River Table with a happy new customer in Issaquah, then some time in Queen Anne, followed by a visit to a bakery in Fremont and afternoon tea with relatives in the U District. Finally a rest area stop and now the final push home through rush hour before it’s bed time for my mini delivery helpers.

I started my business 11 years ago today, at the start of a global recession, with a wife, a 6 month old and $15k in student loan debt. I had a high mileage Toyota Corolla I shared with my wife, and we lived in the cheapest place we could find. I owned a lousy imported bandsaw, a box of hand planes, and a sketchbook full of designs I was eager to make but couldn’t afford to build. I hustled, I studied, I read, I sought mentors, I brainstormed lists of ideas on how to make this business work and tried almost everything. My wife counseled me when I was low (often) and my daughter (and new best friend), Ruth, gave me the motivation to keep working hard. I failed and failed and failed again. I was making award-winning furniture and we were living below the poverty line. I almost gave up but didn’t. By God’s grace, I managed to keep going & keep experimenting and I’ve been blessed with a business today that is standing stronger than ever. My work hangs in homes and lives in offices around the world. My customers are turning into collectors, and their enthusiasm for my work is fuel to my fire. My 6 month old is now a pre-teen (still one of my best friends) and the oldest of 3 little Klassen’s. My wife homeschools our kids and continues to counsel me, because success isn’t always rosy either. Our Corolla has been replaced and I now have my own shop, full of beautiful materials that greet and inspire me each day. I am incredibly grateful. To each of you who have supported my work these 11 years, thank you. : @bigbenbender

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Greg Klassen Furniture Maker