TJ Kuhn | Woodworking & Furniture Making | Duluth, Minnesota
Quick Navigation
Artist Snapshot
Name: Timothy J. Kuhn
Location: Duluth, Minnesota
Discipline: Woodworking, Wood Carving, Furniture Making, Sculpture, Carpentry
Medium: Locally sourced hardwoods, reclaimed lumber, metal, hand-rubbed finishes
Website: https://dustydogwoodwork.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dustydogwoodwork/
Other Links:
Introduction
Timothy J. Kuhn is a woodworker, wood carver, furniture maker, sculptor, and carpenter based in Duluth, Minnesota. He designs and builds custom furniture, sculptures, signs, relief carvings, and architectural woodwork using old-world woodworking methods drawn from multiple traditions. His work incorporates hand-carved elements made with chisels and gouges and is produced primarily from locally sourced hardwoods, reclaimed lumber, and reclaimed metal. He also prepares hand-rubbed finishes, including homemade finishes that sometimes give his work an antique quality.
Kuhn describes his design style as “primitive folk modern” and cites influences including slojd, English Arts & Crafts, Japanese furniture, 1970s country rock album covers, and Duluth architecture. In addition to his studio practice, he teaches carving and furniture making at the Duluth Folk School and has completed work for Zeitgeist Arts. He has also begun collaborating with local blacksmiths and fiber artists.
He is currently booked with commission furniture projects through mid-summer before shifting much of his attention toward developing a sculptural lighting collection and organizing First Light, a community illuminated art exhibition planned for the Duluth Folk School. He is seeking broader visibility as an artist while continuing to build collaborations within Duluth’s arts community.
Interview
Has living in or around the Great Lakes region shaped your work in any way?
Yeah big time. Duluth has a say in everything I make. I’ve only been here a couple years now but I’m fascinated with this place. For a woodworker, there is inspiration everywhere you look. The boreal sublime colliding with a century or two of industrial might. The grand old architecture with ornately carved stone facades—some preserved, some crumbling in a way that’s beautiful in its own right. All symbolic of the origin story, a familiar one: capitalist surge that motivated sweeping Indigenous dispossession and sustained itself on exploited immigrant labor. A complex history that’s still unfolding and being reckoned with.
What’s grown out of all that is another source of inspiration—the coolest population of people you’ll find anywhere. People around here (excuse the following generalizations) are hardworking, united, good-humored, engaged, authentic. There’s a welcoming and accessible grassroots arts/artisan community here. I’ve made friends with a bunch of makers who I can’t wait to collaborate with, and some with whom I already do! It’s been a dream for me getting settled here and finding more chances to work with such thoughtful clients and collaborators. I’m a humble newcomer but I have the benefit of fresh eyes, and I try to create furniture that considers the whole story of this place as well as the little stories of a person or a family or a home.
What feels especially important to you right now, creatively or personally?
Balance, and a holistic approach to life and work. I’ve been pleased with how often the phone rings lately, and I love working so much I could do it 15 hours a day. But I also have a wife and two little kids and I like hanging out with them even more than I like making furniture, so I keep it balanced. People commissioning work from a guy who taps a chisel against a tree chunk until it becomes a chair don’t seem to mind waiting a bit.
I want my kids to see that you don’t have to completely get onboard with the capitalist machine to make a living, which is why I’m giving life as a village woodcarver my best shot. But if my best shot means getting all stressed out and hyperfocused on money and I only save a few hours a week for them, I might as well have been a hedge fund manager or something.
What’s something you’ve been noticing lately that’s influencing your work?
I’ve noticed that workmanship has taken on additional meaning for me as the world shifts towards being fine with robots doing stuff for us that we used to do for ourselves. I call myself an artist nowadays but I’ve called myself a tradesman for a lot longer, so workmanship in terms of building to a standard is in my core. Lately I’ve decided that for me it also means the details of a piece that show the material, the tool, and the (somewhat skilled) hand coming together. It’s been gratifying to work with clients who value features of my work like tool marks, surface undulations, textures, figures carved by eye, because that’s where the art meets the trade and that’s where I want to live.
It’s not lost on me that this kind of workmanship can also carry a legacy, if only because there aren’t too many people still making furniture with their hands the way I do.
The immigrant masons who chiseled all those ornate carvings on the buildings in Duluth are the pinnacle of artist-tradesfolk to me. They were lunch-pailers, mostly nameless to history, punching the clock to climb a rickety scaffold and build something beautiful with skills they honed over decades. And they knew it was worth something. When the overlords conspired to steal their wages, they brought their mallets to the protests just in case the cops tried some bullshit. That’s the kind of self-assured workmanship I want to honor and carry forward.
Materials & Process
- Designs all furniture, sculpture, signs, and carvings himself.
- Uses old-world woodworking methods from multiple traditions.
- Hand carves surfaces using chisels and gouges.
- Works primarily with locally sourced hardwoods and reclaimed lumber.
- Incorporates reclaimed metal, often sourced from scrap yards.
- Applies hand-rubbed finishes, including homemade finishes.
- Creates commission furniture including chairs, benches, tables, built-ins, and shelving.
- Produces sculptures, awards, signs, and relief carvings.
- Collaborates with local blacksmiths and fiber artists.
- Teaches carving and furniture making at the Duluth Folk School.
Current Work & Projects
- Commission furniture projects.
- Sculptural lighting collection.
- First Light community illuminated art exhibition.
- Collaborative projects with local artists and makers.
- Furniture, sculpture, relief carving, and custom woodworking commissions.
Additional Notes
- Based in Duluth, Minnesota.
- Has completed work for Zeitgeist Arts.
- Teaches carving and furniture making at the Duluth Folk School.
- Recently relocated to the Duluth area after moving there approximately two years ago.
- Seeks to expand visibility as an artist while continuing collaborations within Duluth’s arts community.
- Is booked with commission furniture work through at least mid-summer before shifting focus to his lighting collection and First Light.
Upcoming Events & Exhibitions
Sculptural Lighting Collection Development
Venue: Studio work
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Date: Following completion of commission work in mid-summer
First Light: An Illuminated Art Exhibition
Venue: Duluth Folk School
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Date: Early 2027
Time: No information provided.
First Light Community Illuminated Art Exhibition
Venue: Duluth Folk School
City: Duluth, Minnesota
Date: Sunday, July 26
Time: 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Sponsored Content:
