June 2025 – Meet Bill Brickey, a Workshop and Fellowship alumnus from Moncure, NC. Bill has always enjoyed woodworking. As a child, he helped his dad with cabinet and carpentry projects and later, he worked as a framer and trim carpenter while attending school. After completing his engineering degree, Bill and his wife settled in Phoenix, AZ, where he began building furniture as a hobby. Bill says, “Once I started, I never stopped, and my passion blossomed from there.”
Like many participants in the workshops, Bill’s goal in attending is to learn new skills or enhance his existing ones. During his time in the workshops, he has improved his design abilities and incorporated various curvature techniques into his practice, such as bent laminations, steam bending, and advanced joinery for curves. He has found the use of full-scale drawings to be a significant benefit in his woodworking projects. He has also acquired new veneering skills, which he continues to explore and expand.
Bill enjoys the camaraderie of his classmates, which motivated him to apply for a fellowship. “I am mostly a self-taught woodworker and have honed my skills by building projects designed by others. Much of my inspiration, along with several of these projects, came from Fine Woodworking Magazine. As my skills developed, I became eager to create my own ideas and designs. Preparing for the workshops and working with the instructors at CFC has really helped me enhance my design skills.”
Bill finds joy and peace in spending time in the shop. He is driven to create pieces for family and friends who appreciate the craftsmanship and beauty of his custom work.
