Beth Fellows: Joiner
Working on land is not natural for Beth. If she isn't 20' in the air, walking a ridge beam on her hands, she's probably on the water. From surfing the coastal waves to white water rafting, she has spent most of her life living and working on the water. She currently lives at a Sausalito dock on her 32' sail boat. Despite the remarks of landlubbing naysayers, Beth insists that this "boat" will someday actually leave the dock.
Following her passion, Beth attended wooden boat building school in Port Townsend, Washington, completing a nine month training program in 2003. Beth has prior experience raising timber frames in the Tahoe region from 2004-2006, as well as a strong background in carpentry and remodel work.
In the photo to the right, you can see Beth and her tool of choice. In this particular instance, she came down with such force that she entirely shattered this block to pieces. We don't have a shot of the aftermath, 'cause shrapnel from the blow cracked the camera's lens.
Although pleasant to chat with, she is a little on the quiet side and does not volunteer a ton of information. We realized after she had been with us for a year, that none of us really knew Beth that well, so some of the following is conjecture. We know that she kinda has a dog and that she does a bit of woodwork on the side. She has a favorite color, but that's none of your business. She likes beer, and won't back down from a "stunt- man" if she's challenged.
What else can you say about Beth that hasn't already been said about Jesus? She was a carpenter before she became enlightened and soon she will ascend into heaven.
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Leif Calvin: TC Owner and President
Kind of a little guy, Leif compensates with a ton of determination. Before we got here, he used to undo those things by himself, regularly. (Actually this is Leif's son Gabriel to the left)
Like Beth, Leif is a water person. Any chance he can get he is out on the ocean in an outrigger canoe or a surf ski. Aside from being with family or raising a frame, the most exciting time of Leif's life was steering a 42' outrigger canoe in 10'-12' waves. Rogue waves came by every ½ hour that topped 16' making this little blond man feel even smaller. We usually throw a 5 gallon bucket of water on him and hand him a 16oz Hamm's during the recounting of the event, in order to help him hold on to his visceral sense of that moment.
Leif can often be found in front of the computer answering emails and phone calls, designing timber joinery, or advising procedure in the shop. He seems to feel most at home though, standing 40' up in the air, on a wobbly and uncooperative timber and pounding it down with a massive sledgehammer. The word "Thor" comes to mind after witnessing something like that.
When Leif heads home he is welcomed by his two sons, Gabriel and Maxwell and his beautiful wife Tamala. They live in Santa Rosa in a timber frame house they designed and built to resemble an old farm house. (see Carter house)
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Stephen O'Shea: Joiner
With a degree in psychology, some time working as a bartender, bouncer, tutor, masonry salesman, corporate dept. manager, vine worker, and three more full time plus-years in school working towards a degree in Conservation Biology, Steve couldn't take it anymore and decided to drop out, buy a bus, and travel the country on waste veggie oil.
This led to his introduction to natural building, his future wife, and organic farming. For the next three years he worked on a farm, building with straw and mud, converting cars, buses, and tractors to run on grease, and waiting for his woman (Mandy) to move out west from Georgia.
Between farming, mechanics, and construction, he found that his greatest enjoyment came from building with natural materials. At some point he put on a belt and did some work at Leif's house, which got him a job at Timber Creations.
For a few months he was the only crew, and inexperienced as he was, he was allowed to cut a whole project by himself. The job was a redwood Hindu temple, milled from two trees harvested at the temple site. He's been hooked since, working and enjoying life at Timber Creations, as a joiner and occasional scribbler of poems and slanderous bio's for the web site.
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