William Francis Brown
- Jul 21, 2021
- 3 min read

Register now for 2022 Classes

Once again, we will be offering a limited number of top quality classes for 2022.

We are midway through our first season at the Maine Coast Workshop and it has been a wonderful success with both instructors and students. We started a few new traditions: Home-made lunches by my lovely wife Kathryn, a Wednesday evening slide show on the life and work of the instructor which I have opened up to the public (and projected internationally via Zoom) and a class sailing trip on the last day aboard the 'Steadfast', a 42 foot yacht captained by a local sea captain friend whose a wonderful tour guide. Alex Grabovetskiy asked to come back twice in 2022 and many first-time students are already registered to take classes again in 2022. I guess we are doing something right.

That said, we are still in the formative period and I expect to continue fine-tuning things as we move forward. My plan is to continue hosting 6 workshops a year between June and October. These are some of the nicest months to visit mid-coast Maine. In a few years, as I scale back on my real job (which supports this one!) I hope to expand the offerings to more classes and more variety, perhaps expanding into other traditional arts. The stress will always be on quality, hosting master artisans who are also master teachers. I already have a list of artisans who would love to be a part of this vision, so it will be fun to see where things go in future years.

I want to take this time to express my heartfelt thanks to the students and teachers who have come out for classes this year. To go to such an effort and expense, sight unseen, has represented a real vote of confidence. I take that responsibility seriously and have worked hard to deliver a top-tier experience. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and for that I am grateful. Thanks to all for the support and encouragement. I plan to continue working hard to make things even better.

We still have openings for the two remaining classes this year: Ray Journigan's John Elliot Chippendale stool class (with lots of carving) in September and Alf Sharp's Queen Anne country chair class in October. Both teachers are winners of the Society of Period Furniture Makers coveted Cartouche Award and will focus heavily on hand tools joinery.

Lastly, apologies for the significant time gap since my last blog post. I've had a few folks ask me if I planned to continue the Bellamy Eagle series. Things have been very busy with the new school, my own commissions, my regular job, and writing for some periodicals. But yes, indeed, I will get back to the blog soon. I've had requests for a tutorial on gold leafing, so that will be my next post, God willing.

Here's the lineup for 2022. The July class is still to be determined. I'm hoping to get Ray Journigan back for another Chippendale project, but I also might teach a Bellamy Eagle carving class........

Mike Pekovich: Fine-tune your hand tool skills. Weekend intensive - May 28-29, 2022

Alexander Grabovetskiy: Classical Carving - June 13-17, 2022

……4 spots left

Lie-Neilson Open House: July 8-10 (I will be exhibiting & carving a Bellamy Eagle; it's a wonderful event)

Wm. Francis Brown: Carve a Bellamy Eagle - July 18 – 22 (or TBD)

or Ray Journigan - Chippendale project (lots of carving guaranteed!): project TBD

Alexander Grabovetskiy: Carving in the Grinling Gibbons Style - August 8-12, 2022

…..3 spots left

David Douyard: Ladderback Chair Making - September 19-24, 2022

Shawn Murphy: Make a Windsor Chair - October 17-22, 2022

Details and registration are now posted at MaineCoastWorkshop.com:

I will hold your spot with a deposit.