Paragon Woodworking

Welcome to Paragon Woodworking. Allow me to introduce myself; I'm Patrick Everett. Without getting overly intellectual or spiritual, let me lay out the general philosophy of my woodworking company, and what it means for you. Since graduating from college in 1973, I have been a mostly self-employed woodworker – dedicated to producing high quality one-of-a-kind pieces of furniture and cabinets that exude a unique eye-appealing aesthetic and that occupy an important place in people's lives. I have been self-employed and a one-man shop for a reason, namely to instill the highest quality possible into my pieces. Only my hands will be touching your piece. My desire to build things extends far beyond the thirty years I have been a professional – back into my childhood. As an early teenager I had built exotic tree forts and stick houses.

What does this mean to you? Well it means that I will enjoy creating something of aesthetic beauty for you. I have a strong aesthetic sense, have been studying and building objects of wood for 30 years, and have the fine tools to do this. Something of beauty is what you want, and it's what I want to create for you. One of my most fundamental orientations over the years has been to give my clients exactly what I would want, that is, the highest quality job possible. Quality, quality, quality! While design is something I'm very invested in, and I do offer my suggestions when they may improve the outcome, it is the execution of the plan, your plan that really spurs me on. This means a quality project for you.

Of course I'm a wood-o-phile and a wood-aholic, yet I don't have a favorite. Perhaps satinwood, perhaps tiger-maple. Regarding styles the same is true, I don't have a favorite. Perhaps Chippendale, but I sure have had some fun with Arts and Crafts, Frank Lloyd Wright, Greene and Greene, Federal, modern/studio and Jacobean. This brings me to another point: What matters to me is not what I have done in the past, but what I will be doing in the future. If you look at my portfolio, you will notice that none of what I have built is related to anything that preceded it. Everything is unique; a prototype; a reflection of what my clients want. I try to read what they want very carefully, offer suggestions that seem appropriate, and then fulfill this dream in actuality – that is, to make it real in the world, to make it happen. I have no need to put my mark all over a design. I'm more interested in the execution. This is to say, if you have a project that is not similar to the pictures shown here, don't worry, I can probably make it. There have been many, many projects that range far into the hinterlands of the unusual, for example those two three-foot-diameter sculptural pieces I've shown.

In my earlier years I would get a clear pictographic image of prospective jobs in my mind's eye and then have difficulty in implementing that image. These days I have a very high rate of actualizing my image of a job very precisely, and I can't tell you how gratifying that is. This is the true Joy of Woodworking. Sometimes in order to carry out the details of a job, a whole lot of sweating of the details takes place. A lot of my clients comment that I must have a lot of patience and they are right. But sometimes the gratification in taking off a beautiful shaving with my Norris plane is beyond belief. And the proper laying down of a spray of catalyzed lacquer so that the wood springs to life is unreal.

So I guess it's all about you being satisfied with an aesthetically pleasing woodworking project that will be in your living space for countless years, and it's about me getting to do the techniques that achieve this – techniques which I find eminently satisfying. It's great to be able to state that there is no woodworking project that I can't do, and I guess I'll go out on a limb and say, Yes, that's true. (I've been saying this to myself for many years now. Last month I was wondering if it was honestly true when I was almost stumped by having to steam-bend two back posts in a press-back chair repair. But I got the job done by researching Fine Woodworking magazine all the way back to issue #8. The client was happy, and I gained a wealth of new knowledge.)

As you can see, it is the aesthetics, the problem solving, the physics, the geometry, the practicality, the proportions, the details, the multi-disciplinary nature of woodworking that I love and have pursued over the years. All this can marry very nicely with a client who has a pretty piece of woodworking in mind. Perhaps you and I should partner up in a win-win situation. What would you like to build today?

Patrick Everett

Paragon Woodworking

Membership: Eastern Massachusetts Guild of Woodworkers