My husband and I were HVAC contractors in California. We retired to Oregon in 2005 where we became interested in wood working. We made furniture for ourselves and our daughter, and when that project was complete we tried our hand at decorative woodworking. We had stones or metal to some of our work, and we use colored stains and other coloring media. We love working with local woods such as Myrtle and Big Leaf Maple, but we also enjoy working with exotic woods. We employ some lichtenberg burning in our design and also Shou-Sugi-Ban (torching of the wood). We love the wood and do our best to enhance its natural beauty.