As soon as I had the means and a space of my own, I bought myself a table saw. There’s something about the smell of freshly-cut wood, sometimes musty, sometimes sweet (cherry, anyone?), for me always creating a sense of quiet and inviting the opportunity to explore ideas and the wood itself.

At that time, the motivation was largely utilitarian – cutting what was needed for various house projects (ala, a DIY kitchen renovation, and two bathroom makeovers).

This gradually evolved to aspects of furniture making – bed frames for the kids, desks, cabinets, storage drawers, etc.. While serving a purpose, it also provided a creative, sometimes therapeutic (!), and kinesthetic activity for my heady work in corporate as a software developer/manager, and ultimately an executive and team coach (peterdittman.com/coaching).

With wood, the creation of a piece of furniture or some other functional piece, such as a jewelry box or necklace rack, is the opportunity to focus on problem-solving, what function does the piece provide, as well as the aesthetics, how does the piece appear – to bring ideas to life that are both visually pleasing and serving a useful purpose.

Working with glass offers a different challenge. Creating new pieces leans heavily on the visual beauty – evoking emotions through the medium. Exploring more of my creative self with less emphasis on the functional, problem solving and more structured thinking that comes with engineering, computers, and corporate life.