By BRIAN HILL – SENTINEL CORRESPONDENT
Imagine waking up Monday morning to the normal routine: yawning, stretching, drinking a cup of coffee, taking a shower and getting dressed.
The worst part, for many, is preparing for the hour-long morning commute to San Jose. But what if the commute consisted simply of walking out to the backyard studio where a work bench awaits a day of creating art out of huge blocks of wood?


A longing for some and a dream for many, Matthew Werner of Matthew Werner Handcrafted Furniture gets to do just that every day. It’s his job. And boy does he love it.
Werner operates from his home-based studio on the upper Westside and his work is displayed in galleries from Anaheim to Tacoma, Wash. He also hosts an open studio every year where he dresses his studio as a display gallery.
“This last year, I had over 1,000 people come through here within two weekends,” Werner said.
His studio is flooded with an array of tools and he spends the better part of his day at his workbench working with almost every type of wood imaginable including jarrah, maple, sycamore, holly, hickory and ebony.
Though he enjoys developing his own pieces, he also creates custom furniture. An average piece — like his chickadee and hummingbird music stands — can cost around $1,800
The furniture is highly detailed, down to the shading of wood inlay pieces, which he captures by dipping the wood into an inch of hot beach sand. Looking at the colorful creations, it’s hard to
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imagine that every detail, every color and every shade is all wood; no dye or paint brushes are used.
Werner finds and buys most of his wood locally and even uses trees from his friends’, and his own, yards.
“This sycamore can potentially last me the rest of my life; it’s like gold to me,” he said while pointing at a massive slab of wood that was about 3 inches thick and 18 feet tall. “It took about 10 guys to get that wood to my house and it’s worth it because it’s really part of Santa Cruz history.”
Wood hasn’t always been Werner’s passion. Originally from Staten Island, N.Y., he has a background in the sciences and was offered a position at UC Santa Cruz, which brought him to Santa Cruz.
“I’ve now been here 20 years and I’ve never looked back,” he said.
He was introduced to the art of woodworking when he was given a set of woodworking tools soon after buying his Westside home. Before long, he started working on the cabinets. Around the same time, he was introduced to the books of James Krenov, a famous woodworker and teacher. Werner soon learned that Krenov was teaching woodworking at a school in Northern California.
“I just made this snap decision that this is what I was going to do with my life,” he said. “So I quit my job at the university with its stable paycheck, went to woodworking school for a year out in the middle of nowhere and now, 10 years later, here I am.”
From his music stands to his showcase cabinets, Werner boasts an impressive portfolio of work, which are on display at several local galleries, including Greenspace in Santa Cruz and Many Hands Gallery in Capitola.
Contact Brian Hill at 429-2436 or jcopeland@santacruzsentinel.com.
Matthew Werner Handcrafted Furniture

WHAT: Handcrafted furniture.
OWNER: Matthew Werner.
INFORMATION: Call 427-3153 or visit www.matthewwernerfurniture.com.

Taken from : http://www.mercurynews.com/