Sean S. Mckenzie was born and raised in Marin County, California. Marin County is just north of San Francisco. Sean attended Sir Francis Drake high school from 1986 to 1990 where he began taking woodshop. After one year of shop at age 16, Sean began making furniture, and by age 18 Sean had his first commission piece. At the same time, he was also helping younger students as the teacher’s aid. Sean applied to College of the Redwoods furniture program taught by James Krenov and was not accepted, but told to go out and get on the job experience.
Confused trying to figure out where to go to learn furniture-making he attended Baulines Guild summer workshop in which he attend different classes at artists’ workshops. In search of someone who would be willing to teach him, the same name kept coming up: Art Espenet Carpenter. Sean enrolled in the Baulines guild apprentice program and began the journey.
At the time Sean had no idea who he was working for! Art Carpenter, one of the founding members of the Baulines Guild, had been making custom furniture for 40 years and had taught somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 apprentices, Sean being one of his last. Art was famous for his wishbone chairs and one of them is now in the Smithsonian museum. Sean had fallen right into the center of the country’s best furniture makers. All that Sean absorbed working for Art would be realized years later.
After working for Art, Sean was unable to find any one else who would take him on as an apprentice. He went to work for a few cabinet shops and as a carpenter at the Fairmont Hotel. Then at the age of 22 he met a couple of old carpenters who would continue to shape his skills and begin to teach him basic business skills. Sean decided to take a chance and quit his regular job and began doing work out of a small shop set up in the garage.
Half-heartedly looking through job ads, he called on a cabinetmaker position for the Thornton Ranch. The Thornton Ranch was a custom house being built on the top of a mountain in Sonoma, California. It is here where Sean would learn how to make high-end cabinetry and meet Rob Gibson, an English cabinetmaker who was the same age. Rob had been through an English apprentice program at age 16. Rob had more experience and would teach Sean a lot. After a year of work, Sean and Rob would quit work and take a year off to travel around Australia and New Zealand.
Now 25, back from his travels and broke, Sean went back to work at the Thornton Ranch under a new boss. After a couple of months at the Ranch, work would finish and Sean would change jobs and go to work for Red Horse Constructors, who were starting work on a custom house. Working as a finish carpenter, Sean would again decide to quit and go out on his own.
Working out of his own shop Sean has his first apprentice, Aussie Pete. After building up the business for a year, Pete leaves, and Sean makes a call and gets Rob Gibson to come back to the U.S. and be his silent partner. Together, they made kitchens of the highest quality. After a year, Rob gets deported and Sean is on his own. Sean presses on for another year before Rob returns again. Ready to take the business to another level, Sean moves and expands the shop, hiring another apprentice as well as a couple of friends. After a very good year of business, Sean decided to shut down and move to Florida.
Sean and his 2-year-old girl Patience relocate to St. Petersburg in 2003. Sean purchases a 1920’s bungalow in the old northeast and spends the next year remodeling the house. It takes longer than expected to get the business back up to speed. As the business grows again, Sean hires apprentices. Sean finds that people in Florida don’t care as much about quality and are not willing to pay for it, and is very selective about his customers. Sean has been able to focus more on custom furniture for galleries. Most of Sean’s work is displayed at the Florida Craftsmen Gallery in St. Petersburg.
In addition to furniture, in 2008 Sean has made kitchens for clients in San Francisco, Miami and St. Petersburg. Sean is currently working on setting up a gallery, a community workshop, and an apprentice program. To contact Sean or view Sean's work in person please contact the MISSION: Beautification Project Gallery.
Artists Statement
American made! That was said with so much pride in the past and it’s just that - in the past. Society must realize the importance of buying locally made products. No one understood that better than my grand parent's generation who lived through the depression of the 30s. I will take it a step further and say in today’s time it is not only about spending money in your community, it is very important to spend on American made products! It just so happens that is what I produce. The initial cost may seem expensive! Every product comes with a life time warranty, in the rare case that there is a problem we will fix or replace the product.
People sometimes ask if our quality product is expensive ... we tell them "NO! It’s priceless!!"
Sincerely, Sean S. Mckenzie |
Sean S. McKenzie - Furniture Maker/Woodwork