Walter O. Jaeger

I chose a career as a cabinetmaker because it offered expression for the passion that motivates my creativity. I think often of Charles .R. Mackintosh who said,
“Art is the flower. Life is the green leaf. Let every artist strive to make his flower a beautiful thing…something that will convince the world that there may be, there are, things more precious – more beautiful - more lasting - than life itself.”

Born in Maine in 1949, I moved to Charlottesville, Virginia when I was sixteen. I received a B.S. degree from St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 1972. Shortly thereafter, I established a cabinetmaking shop that would grow to become Jaeger & Ernst, cabinetmakers.
I enjoy participating in the Virginia and national craft communities. I believe an awareness of the work of other artisans enhances my design sensibilities, reinforces the value inherent in the work of the hand, and provides exceptional sources for our clients.

The history of craft, particularly its rebirth following the industrial revolution, has long held my interest. The Arts and Crafts Movement is a tale of craft’s re-emergence and flowering. I am fascinated by how the tenets of the Arts and Crafts Movement affected artisans and our larger culture. My convictions that design and craft are valuable contributors to our culture and economy stemmed from my exploration of this subject.

Rooms are affected by material, color, texture, spatial arrangement, and complements of like and dissimilar elements. The character we attribute to rooms, such as expansive, intimate, warm, comfortable, rich, formal or soft, for me, are the emotional considerations I seek to affect as a designer/cabinetmaker. I am tremendously gratified by a client’s elation over work we created for their home.
A flow of inspiring emotion is the spirit I strive to communicate within the art of the cabinetmaker. To create those objects and spaces which evoke this movement necessitates that design, craftsmanship and wood be combined and offered as an extraordinary service. Because we provide this extraordinary service, I continue to be joyful with my choice of a career as cabinetmaker.

R. Craig Ernst

Born in Virginia in 1950, I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky, and the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. After living in Indiana and Florida, I moved to New England, where I graduated PBK form Amherst College. My degree is in English, the predominant academic background of woodworkers, nationwide. Faced with a choice between continuing school, or accepting my partner’s invitation to own half of a small, custom woodworking shop, I exemplified the observation that education alone cannot instill wisdom, by choosing a career making noise and sawdust. Twenty-five years later, I still believe I made the better choice.

“I have often thought that cabinetmaking attracts particular types of people. If one is drawn to the idea of “getting the thing right,” cabinetmaking offers the opportunity to indulge. Craft is an alluring vocation, in part because the objects created leave clear markers over the ground one has covered…not just, “I was here,” but clearly, “I cared about getting it right when I was here.” I know that this focus distinguishes our shop from so many others.

I believe that the quality of a piece of furniture, or of any other endeavor, is a direct reflection of the quality of self one is willing to invest in the effort. The furniture we make, the rooms we design, are the artifacts of the makers’ lives… reflections of the quality of the time we were willing to give. When the work shines, it is because the makers were willing to give generously of themselves to the project.

In our small business, it is easy to see how much pleasure people take from the work we create, “Oh, you’re the guys who build all that beautiful cabinetry and furniture”, but it is actually the service we provide that makes all of that beautiful work happen. Until a client has worked with us, it is difficult for them to imagine the effort we spend listening, brainstorming, sketching, and drafting the designs we offer. By the time we arrive at a great design, we’ve discarded better ideas than most shops would have come up with.

When a client comes to me, I truly get involved witth trying to understand just what kind of furniture or cabinetry is going to draw out that little smile every time they look around their room. I believe that the quality of the lives we share can be affected in important ways by the care we take creating the spaces where we live. I enjoy working for, and with, people who share that notion.

When Marshal McLuhan wrote, “The medium is the message,” he could well have been referring to the cabinetmaker’s art. Our medium is wood. The message is, “Isn’t this beautiful? We love working with it.”

Telling people about what we do is not easy, they tend to romanticize our jobs when actually, it is a lot of hard work, and a tough way to make a living. For the most part, anyone who wants to know about us need only take a close look at our work. It says pretty clearly what we are up to.”