Island Treasures: Tai Lake Fine Woodworking

Tai Lake and his family design and build fine furniture from Hawai‘i Island-grown woods. Their wood comes from trees slated for removal or storm fallen.

2020 marks 40 years since Tai moved to Hawai‘i Island. The workshop on his property in Hōlualoa has proven to be an ideal place for Tai and his family to pursue their art because of the abundant materials, including our islandʻs very unique koa wood. He says, “This is my lifelong pursuit of blending function, form, and the art of design.”

Being at a crossroads in Hawai‘i brings Taiʻs work to the attention of collectors from around the world. People are often looking for unique solutions, which have generated custom commissions and collaborations that have kept him busy.

In more recent yers, Taiʻs wife Mary Jo and sons Noah and Jonah, along with Noahʻs wife Ashley, have joined Tai in the workshop. Tai reflects, “How cool it is to have my sons and new family coming into this way of life. Noa and Ashley are pursuing the craft side of this business, Mary Jo keeps busy with her glass work, and Jonah has quite a following for his small sculpture work.”

Tai studied the best in the field and adapted all that was positive to our Hawai‘i environment. He says, “One particular aspect of this was to focus the attention the work created onto the health of our forests and land-use policies—to guarantee that future generations will be able to enjoy all the benefits of a balanced ecosystem. Advancing ideas like salvage reforestation, sustainable yield, balancing wildlife systems is part of the continuing dialog that artists can promote.”

When asked what makes his art unique, Tai says, “In a word: design. I come from a construction family and an engineer dad, so I was around tools—making, designing and building from a very early age. I was very lucky to spend time in Bucky Fuller’s design department at Southern Illinois University and crafted my subsequent training based on the principles I learned there. I traveled for years and worked on a wide variety of projects, but always kept my main focus on design in general and wood in particular.”

Hawai‘i Artist Collaboration

Tai shares, “I’ve always known that building community is the real goal of any art form and have been involved with the Hawai‘i Wood Guild, The Hawai‘i Forest Industry Association, and Donkey Mill Art Center as avenues to bring an appreciation for forest issues into a larger conversation.

“In 2011, Cliff Johns, Tiffany Shafto, and I started the Hawai‘i Artist Collaboration as a way to involve even more artists in creating a larger community. We have approximately 40 master artists attend every year to share experiences and create works together for a week. We sell the resulting unique, one-of-a-kind works at auction. Funds go to future events, as well as providing art supplies to public school teachers on the Big Island. This yearʻs event is March 28th at West Jawao Community Health Center from 4–8pm.

Tai and the Lake familyʻs work can be seen at select galleries. They invite studio visits by appointment. ❖

Tai Lake Fine Woodworking
808.938.1238
tailake.net
facebook.com/TaiLakeFineWoodworking