Joe Flikkema was introduced to woodworking as a carpenter in the early 80s. He began framing and his job soon evolved into finish carpentry, but it never gave Joe a feeling of real accomplishment. There was something missing...

In 1999, he met his wife, Melissa, and many things changed. It was time to define his need for accomplishment - to get more than a paycheck from his days. The idea of making furniture was taking shape, so the couple bought property near Ithaca and built a shop. Joe was still in construction and they lived in the shop while they built a new home. Their first boy, Angus, was born in the workshop.

In early 2001, while mindlessly thumbing through an art magazine, Joe happened across a picture of a lowback chair by Sam Maloof. He had found what he was looking for.
"I dug up all the information I could about the man," Joe told Woodezine. "And I was even more awestruck about his life. We spoke several times and then we talked about meeting at the Anderson Ranch in Snowmass Village, Colorado, where he would be teaching a class. But when I contacted the school, the class was full!"

Unknown to Joe, his in-laws had set him up. They had already enrolled him as a birthday gift, and everyone was just stringing him along. So, that August (2001), he finally met his hero. It was, he says, the most inspiring thing he had ever done. Within seven months he had wrapped up all his construction jobs and was ready to take the plunge.

Surveying his new furnituremaking shop, he realized that it was a bit light in the equipment department. But he decided to make do. He had a cabinet saw, a miter saw, various hand tools, a cheap jointer (that he still uses), and a wonderful set of carving chisels which were a gift from Melissa. The first piece he built was a lowback settee in cherry.

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"I soon learned more about myself than I wanted to know," he laughs. "But with a few burned out tools, a lot of colorful words, and more sanding than I ever thought possible, I finished the job. The piece won my first blue ribbon, at a gallery show in Syracuse (Great Artspectations). It also provided the groundwork for all my seating pieces to come."

He continued to make whatever furniture pieces came to mind, with the hope that he would be selling them. He exhibited at a few local shows and received another blue ribbon, but found he was not reaching the right audience.

"I found out quickly that I needed a professional to take photos and slides," he said. Armed with those slides, he applied to a wide variety of national shows and small local ones, and soon set up an exhibition calendar. Among the venues he exhibits are the Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show, the Chautauqua Craft Alliance Show, Fine Furnishings Providence Show and Chicago's One of a Kind Show and Sale.

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"I'm not much of a sheep," Joe says. "I want to go my own way and project my own voice, especially in reference to my work. I've been making furniture a short time compared to a lot of my peers, so there's no time for a steep learning curve. I listen and learn, so as not to waste too much time. A very short list of furniture makers have influenced me, in their lives as much as their work. Among them are Sam Maloof, Garret Hack, Victor Dinovi, Tony Kenway and Dean Ludwig."

While his designs mature, they are still his designs and he tweaks them here and there and continues to develop new ones to meet his own criteria. Joe is able to view the design process three dimensionally and explode the piece in his mind, to figure how he wants it to go together. He hopes his furniture will be spoken of as understated, timeless, elegant, functional art.

.He keeps adding to his tools - most recently, a band saw and a bench-vise.

" I don't have all the tools that I would like yet, but I get a lot of mileage out of what I have and proudly do the best I can with them. My favorite wood is cherry followed by walnut and closely again by figured maple. I use the best hardwoods I can, harvested with sustainable and environmentally responsible practices, and most of the time they come from local woodlots in my area. I like nothing better that to show off the grain and nothing does that better than cherry."

.Joe's family has grown to include two daughters, Samantha and Alana, and two boys - Angus, who was born in the shop, and Colin who was born in the house. They live on a horse-powered organic farm with several draft horses and crop gardens, and they raise their own meat. Having a shop so close to the house means that Joe is always available to his family. He loves to bow hunt, hike and travel with his family as much as possible. Melissa is his hunting buddy.

"While a lot of woodworkers view shop visitors as an annoyance," Joe says, "I love to have people stop by. I spend an awful lot of time in my shop, and enjoy company. I have come to realize that I'm not very orthodox in my methods of work, or even in my lifestyle. But I produce what I consider to be beautiful furniture, have a great and loving family, and believe strongly in everything I do while looking to find an expanding market for my work."