About Lost Art Woodworks
Lost Art Woodworks was founded by Brian Bortz. After 18 years in the telecommunications business doing everything from engineering to business development, He made a life-changing decision in 2001 to pursue his passion of designing and building truly distinctive furniture for a living - that's when he started Lost Art Woodworks. Over the years he has had many apprentices participate in the design and creation of truly distinctive furniture. Although he has been building furniture for over 15 years, he's found furniture design and creation as a profession to be the most rewarding, inspiring, sometimes frustrating experience, but always filled with the desire that he will leave his children with the example that you can still follow your dreams.
Known for his distinctive use of marquetry and inlay techniques with a hint of the Art Deco era of the 1920s and 30s - he calls his style “Contemporary Art Deco". His “Free-form Marquetry” mixes woods along organic and geometric lines using marquetry techniques for contrast, complement, tone and color. This technique is most evident in his “River Series” of work which represent a topical view of a meandering river (with an occasional island thrown in!) going through the piece. The rivers all start as drawings on plywood which are then free hand cut on a band saw or a scroll saw – no patterns or templates are used so exact duplication of a piece is impossible, resulting in a truly unique piece of furniture. Mated pairs (such as a pair of side tables) are stacked and cut at the same, thus producing the same river pattern. In the past few years he has incorporated shell inlay into the design as an additional detail.
He does not use stains or dyes to change the color of wood; if he's going for a specific blend of color, tone, and figure he searches for woods that naturally have the characteristics he desires. His furniture is built with fine domestic hardwoods, accented by highly figured exotic woods and veneers, creating a piece of furniture that invites attention longer than just a few moments . . .
All his furniture is made by hand using only basic power tools - hand tools such as planes, chisels and scrapers are used daily in his studio. He uses time-tested strong joinery in his work whenever possible and uses a variety of finishing techniques selected to best accent the naturally occurring figure in the wood, with all prominent touchable surfaces being hand-polished to produce a silky feel.
Over the years he has won numerous awards, appeared in multiple publications, and participated in many gallery shows and exhibitions. Below are just a few.
Honors and Awards
2009 Niche Award Finalist - Furniture; Deco Liquor Cabinet
2007 Boardwalk Art Show and Festival – Award of Excellence
2003 Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show – Best New Artist
2003 Durham Centerfest – Best of Show
2004 Durham Arts Council - Emerging Artists Grant Recipient
Exhibitions
Cape Fear Studios, Create ~ The Mysterious Art of Wood 2011
Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery; Textures & Curves - A Special Exhibit if Wood and Fiber 2010
Green Hill Center for NC Art; Winter Show 2007
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft; Holidazzle 2006-7
Celebrating Two Centuries of NC Decorative Arts; Barton College 2008
Thanks for visiting our website. Feel free to contact us should you have any questions.
Lost Art Woodworks was founded by Brian Bortz. After 18 years in the telecommunications business doing everything from engineering to business development, He made a life-changing decision in 2001 to pursue his passion of designing and building truly distinctive furniture for a living - that's when he started Lost Art Woodworks. Over the years he has had many apprentices participate in the design and creation of truly distinctive furniture. Although he has been building furniture for over 15 years, he's found furniture design and creation as a profession to be the most rewarding, inspiring, sometimes frustrating experience, but always filled with the desire that he will leave his children with the example that you can still follow your dreams.
Known for his distinctive use of marquetry and inlay techniques with a hint of the Art Deco era of the 1920s and 30s - he calls his style “Contemporary Art Deco". His “Free-form Marquetry” mixes woods along organic and geometric lines using marquetry techniques for contrast, complement, tone and color. This technique is most evident in his “River Series” of work which represent a topical view of a meandering river (with an occasional island thrown in!) going through the piece. The rivers all start as drawings on plywood which are then free hand cut on a band saw or a scroll saw – no patterns or templates are used so exact duplication of a piece is impossible, resulting in a truly unique piece of furniture. Mated pairs (such as a pair of side tables) are stacked and cut at the same, thus producing the same river pattern. In the past few years he has incorporated shell inlay into the design as an additional detail.
He does not use stains or dyes to change the color of wood; if he's going for a specific blend of color, tone, and figure he searches for woods that naturally have the characteristics he desires. His furniture is built with fine domestic hardwoods, accented by highly figured exotic woods and veneers, creating a piece of furniture that invites attention longer than just a few moments . . .
All his furniture is made by hand using only basic power tools - hand tools such as planes, chisels and scrapers are used daily in his studio. He uses time-tested strong joinery in his work whenever possible and uses a variety of finishing techniques selected to best accent the naturally occurring figure in the wood, with all prominent touchable surfaces being hand-polished to produce a silky feel.
Over the years he has won numerous awards, appeared in multiple publications, and participated in many gallery shows and exhibitions. Below are just a few.
Honors and Awards
2009 Niche Award Finalist - Furniture; Deco Liquor Cabinet
2007 Boardwalk Art Show and Festival – Award of Excellence
2003 Philadelphia Furniture and Furnishings Show – Best New Artist
2003 Durham Centerfest – Best of Show
2004 Durham Arts Council - Emerging Artists Grant Recipient
Exhibitions
Cape Fear Studios, Create ~ The Mysterious Art of Wood 2011
Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery; Textures & Curves - A Special Exhibit if Wood and Fiber 2010
Green Hill Center for NC Art; Winter Show 2007
Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft; Holidazzle 2006-7
Celebrating Two Centuries of NC Decorative Arts; Barton College 2008
Thanks for visiting our website. Feel free to contact us should you have any questions.
Furnituremaker - Brian Bortz
Durham, NC
919-597-9020
Durham, NC
919-597-9020
Lost Art Woodworks