Nick Deck

“I've loved playing around with wood since I was a kid. It didn't matter if I was carving sticks in the woods on Vancouver Island, or getting under foot in my grandfather's workshop when we moved out to Calgary. Decades later, I’m still playing around with wood. Only, it's in my shop now!

I first started gathering up my own wood working equipment back in 2012, and it didn't take long before the hobby became an all-absorbing obsession. At the time, I was working in the oil and gas sector and spent the majority of my time on the road, living out of hotel rooms all across Canada. To maximize my wood working time, I started packing two gear bags for work. One with all the regular work gear. The other, packed with hand planes, carving tools, clamps, and scraps of wood to practice with. I'm sure the hotel staff wondered about all the sawdust and wood shaving in my room, but I couldn't go a day without tools in my hands.

In 2017 I took a leap of faith and quit my oilfield job to pursue woodworking full time. Since then, I have pioneered a variety of patterns and techniques used in making elaborate end grain designs. Over the last year, I have been exploring other uses for the intricate patterns I make; creating everything from bookmarks, to lighting fixtures and jewellery. Nearly everything I make these days pulls inspiration from the landscapes in and around Calgary. Cutting boards modelled after winding rivers and mountain sunsets, magnetic knife holders shaped like the river rocks I used to play with as a kid growing up along the shores of the Bow River, and bookmarks inspired by the plumage of the variety of birds that call this land home.”