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Brian Murphy, started American Furniture Design and Murphy's Fine Woodworking over 15 years ago with a desire to assist the woodworking furniture industry with furniture plans that could be used by the beginner, intermediate and advanced crafts person and to build custom furniture in the Art's & Crafts style. AFD represents some of the best names in the industry. Some include Michael Dunbar, the US leader in Windsor chairs, Gary Knox Bennett who has received the National Endowment for the Arts Merit Grant, Andy Rae, Author and lecturer and Darrell Peart the leader in Greene & Greene design. There are currently 10 nationally known artists in this program. The furniture these artist represent are now available in woodworking plans so hobbyists and professionals can build their own remarkable piece of furniture. American Furniture Design has three separate operations. The majority of our plan business is wholesale sales to woodworking stores across the country and Canada. This is followed by our retail sales, then and our custom furniture manufacturing. Brian with his staff has produced furniture for over 25 years. For the past 17 years Brian and his son Chris, have focused on the Art’s & Crafts product line and have designed and manufacture 32 different pieces in quartersawn red/white oak and cherry. We use very little hardwood plywood and never MDF or particleboard. All our material is carefully selected for each project. The workmanship that goes into our furniture is reknown and incorporates the most durable construction techniques known in furniture making. Some of these include true mortise and tenon joinery, inlaid butterfly keys, half blind dovetails on all drawers’ and a lustrous hand applied finish. Visit any of the nationally known furniture stores today and you will find that the Art’s & Crafts style has seen an amazing resurgence in popularity. Our design effort for the past 15 years is to support that and you will find us a true leader in that design discipline. We have developed a complete line of Mission style, Art’s & Crafts furniture that has proven to be the leader in the industry. The plan for the Mission Bed has sold over 75,000 copies worldwide. The Spindle Arm Morris Chair has won Best in Traditional Furniture at the San Diego Fine Woodworking Show, and has placed in the Portland, Chicago, Indianapolis and Atlanta shows. Truly a great design! F&W Publications, who publish Popular Woodworking, just purchased 10,000 copies of the Acorn Workbench to sell in conjunction with their book club. Delta Machinery and Porter-Cable our countries largest woodworking tool manufacturer just awarded us the distinction of being “America’s Best Woodworking Plan Co”. You will find our company featured on both their web pages. This is a great honor for AFD as we have competed against some of the largest woodworking magazine and printing companies in the country. For the past six years Brian has taught woodworking at the American Sycamore Woodworking Retreat, just outside Indianapolis. This is one of the largest woodworking schools in the country and is sponsored by Delta Machinery. In separate five-day classes we build the Spindle Arm Morris Chair, the Bow Arm Chair and the Acorn Work Bench. One year ago in a two-week class 10 students made our Abe Cutler Roll Top Desk. This desk is a reproduction of a desk made in 1885 and the plan is currently being used in a North Dakota prison in their ROP program. AFD also sponsors numerous industrial arts programs in high schools and junior high schools across the country. We have supplied teachers with a complete library of our plans to assist them with their woodworking classes. As the industrial arts program are being slashed across the country we feel that we have a responsibility to assist with the training of the craftsmen of tomorrow and encourage school districts to put more emphasis on the woodworking programs. Designing and Building Beautiful Mission Furniture in the Arts and Crafts Style since 1986…. Murphy's Fine Woodworking
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AWARDS AND RECOGNITION |
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Brian Murphy Bio
1981 Assisted in the founding of the San Diego Fine Woodworking Association, Largest Woodworking Club in the USA 1985 City of Del Mar Artist Award 1986 Special Commendation from the City of San Diego, Art in Action 2000 Permanent Gallery display Grizzly Industrial, Muncy, Pennsylvania. Two pieces, Mission Coffee Table and Mission End Table. 2002 Appointed Escondido Public Art Commission 2004 Style 1900 Magazine, showcased Mission Sideboard 2004 Appointed to Escondido Municipal Art Gallery 2005 Awarded distinction of America’s Best Woodworking Plan Company, by Delta Machinery & Porter Cable. 2006 Shriva Gallery, Escondido, showcased Wine & Spirits Cabinet 2006 Article, “Advocate” Chamber of Commerce Newspaper, “Outstanding Businessman.” 2006 Article North County Times Newspaper “Woodworking Stand-out”. 2007 Escondido Magazine, Multi page article “No Lost Art” Review of 24-piece project for private residence. 2008 Dan Clements Photography Furniture Gallery Series 2008 CWB, Custom Woodworking Business Magazine, Awarded Honorable mention Free Standing Furniture in National competition. 2009 Fine Woodworking Magazine, full article on The Bow Arm Morris Chair and American Furniture Design Co. 2009 Escondido Art Partnership Municipal Gallery WOOD A Furniture Show, Bow Arm Morris Chair in Leather.
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