Vogel envisions
his turnings in homes
and thinks that w hat
could be p u t in the bowls,
vases, a n d boxes is
as interesting as the
form s themselves.
T H E N A M E OF JO SH U A V O G E L ’ S
latest venture - Blackcreek
Mercantile & Trading Com-
pany - suggests an old-time
general store, and that percep-
tion seems just fine with him
and his partner, Kelly Zaneto.
The tone hints at the desire for
a slower lifestyle that led the
couple to leave New York City
several years ago and settle near
Kingston, New York, where
they opened B C M & T in Sep-
tember. (They borrowed the
first part of the name from a
stream near their Hudson Val-
ley home, the Swarte Kill - old
Dutch for “black creek.”)
The spartan, garage-like
woodshop is enviably pristine,
even with a pile of shavings
under the enormous lathe in
the center of the studio. A large
bank of windows, partially
frosted for privacy, diffuses the
sunlight and gives everything
- the rows of tools hung on the
wall, the new table saw, the
worktables loaded with freshly
turned vessels - a soft glow.
Vogel leased the 1,600-square-
foot space, part of a converted
1917 factory, determined to make
a go as a solitary craftsman.
It’s a big change for the
40-year-old, who, not long ago,
oversaw no fewer than 20 peo-
ple in the workshops of BDDW ,
the Manhattan-based hand-
crafted furniture company he
co-founded, and where he su-
pervised all manufacturing. At
B C M & T , he crafts alone; Zan-
eto handles the business end.
A New Mexico native,
Vogel was first introduced to
the lathe in 1991 at the Univer-
sity of Oregon - not as part of
his curriculum (he studied archi-
tecture), but as a leisure activ-
ity, through a class at the stu-
dent union’s Craft Center. After
learning basic operating and
safety rules, Vogel taught
058 american craft apr/may n
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