VITAE
of
Stephen Arden Shepherd
stephen@ilovewood.com
P.O. Box 982335
Park City, Utah 84098
801-518-WOOD(9663)
Date of Birth: April 20, 1948. 10:58 p.m.
Sun: Taurus - Moon: Virgo - Ascending: Sagittarius
Education:
1954 Elementary Vernal Public School Vernal, Utah
1955 -- Wells Public School Wells, Nevada
1956 -- Jackson Public School Jackson Hole, Wyoming
1957-1961 -- Grandview Elementary Salt Lake City, Utah
1962-1963 Junior High Hillside Junior High Salt Lake City, Utah
1963-1966 High School Highland High School Salt Lake City, Utah
1969-1972 College University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah
Philosophy Major
1973-1975 Technical Utah Technical College Salt Lake City, Utah
Cabinet Making Apprenticeship
1984-1985 College University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah
Computer Science
1987- -- Independent Study
Employment:
1965-1969 Hotel Utah Co., S.L.C., Utah. - Valet, Bellboy, Room Clerk
1969 Private Detective, S.L.C., Utah. - Self employed
1969-1972 Union Pacific Railroad, Utah/Idaho - Agent/Telegrapher
1972 Salt Lake Co. Library System, Holiday Library - AV Assistant
1972-1976 Fetzer’s Salt Lake Cabinet & Fixture - Apprentice Cabinetmaker
under European Craftsmen
1973 BBC - Set Decorator - “Ten Who Dared” series, Jed Smith
Episode for PBS Navajo Lake, Utah
1974 Sun Classic Pictures - Consultant, Property Master “The Adventures
of Frontier Fremont”, feature length motion picture
1976 Skaggs Mill, S.L.C., Utah - Journeyman Cabinetmaker
1976-1977 Utah Parks and Recreation, Pioneer Settlement Trails State Park,
S.L.C., Utah - State Historic Cabinetmaker
1977 Adanac Productions - Set Director, Actor - “The Adventures of Mountain Charlie”, feature length motion picture.
1977-1979
Conner Prairie Pioneer
Settlement, Noblesville Indiana (owned and operated by Earlham College,
Richmond, Indiana) - Teaching Staff, Historic Woodworker, 1836 Living History Museum
1977 Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, Delaware - finalist Associate Furniture Conservator
1979 Utah Parks and Recreation, Pioneer Trails State Park, Salt Lake City, Utah - State Historic Cabinetmaker
1979-1985 Moses Trader Shepherd’s Cabinet Shop, Salt Lake City, Utah -owner
1981 Hotel Utah Co., Salt Lake City, Utah - part-time Room Clerk
1986 Custom Concepts, No. Salt Lake City, Utah - Cabinet Shop Foreman
1987 Aspen Wood Works, Murray, Utah - Cabinet Shop Foreman
1987 Moses T’s, Salt Lake City, Utah - owner
1991 David B. Weissman Collection - Salt Lake City & Olga, Washington
1992 - 2001 High Country Cabinet & Woodworking- Park City, Utah - Associate
1999 - ilovewood.com
Contract & Consultation:
Indiana State Museum Utah Museum of Fine Art
Historical Department LDS Church Historic Fort Wayne
LDS Museum of Church History & Art Utah Parks & Recreation
Utah State Historical Society Fort Buenaventura
Wyoming Historical Department National Park Service
American Mountain Man Museum Fur Trade Museum-Moose, Wyo.
Utah Museum of Natural History Indian Museum-Colter Bay, Wyo.
Scotts Bluff Museum Beehive & Lion House
Pioneer Trails State Park Deer Valley Resort Company
Workshops:
-Friends of Conner Prairie, Sept., 1977 - Care of Antique Furniture - conducted workshop.
-10th Annual Conference on Historic Preservation, University of Indiana at Bloomington, Oct., 1978 -“Furniture-A Traditional Approach to Repairs & Finishes ca. 1836”-conducted workshops.
-Prairie Restoration Conference, Batavia, Illinois, Spring 1979 -participant
-Alburnam Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 1981- “Care and Restoration of Antique Furniture” - conducted 3 free workshops.
-Granite School District - Pioneer Woodworking ca. 1856 - First person costumed interpretation for school groups 1982-1984 “Welcome to 1856”.
-Utah State Parks & Recreation - Fort Bueneventura - 1983- Rustic Furniture construction workshop.
-Utah State Historical Society - Oct.,1984 - “Finials, Spindles, Dovetails & Fiddlebacks”, Symposium on early Utah Furniture.
-The Folkarts Program of the Utah Arts Council & the National Endowment for the Arts “Celebrate the City”, Sept.,1986 - Pioneer wood turning demonstration.
-Antique Restoration Workshops, 6 week workshops on museum quality restoration techniques. Lecture, handouts, Q&A, slides, Jan.-Feb., 1989
-Painting & Graining Workshops, 6 week workshops on traditional painting and graining techniques, including marble,. Feb.-Mar., 1989
-Assistance League of Utah, Antique seminar, April, 1989 - Costumed interpretation ca. 1860.
-Native American Shaman Workshop - 1991-1992 - “A Foot in Both Worlds”, 6 week workshops, conducted workshops.
Publications:
Shepherds’ Compleat Early Nineteenth Century Woodworker, Green River Forge G.S.L.C.,Utah, 1981 ISBN:0-939964-00-7, Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 81-82539 (“...the ultimate tome on working with wood the old fashioned way, sans power tools, sans high-tech.” Smithsonian Magazine April 1982 Vol. 13 #1).
Tomahawk & Longrifle, quarterly publication of the American Mountain Men. Series on materials availability in the 1820’s.
Reverse Utah Logo, 1985 - 3 year license agreement.
The Perfect Cut, Perfect Cut Software, 1987. Cutting list program for Cabinet Shops. (Basic Language).
The New Century Collector, July-August, 1988- “Care and Feeding of Furniture”, Column on Antique Furniture Care.
Furniture Care & Finish Restoration, 1988- Moses T’s. 18 page booklet on Traditional Furniture Finish Repair. (available at ilovewood.com)
Guide to Furniture Hardware Casting, 1989- Moses T’s. 36 page
booklet on replacing missing antique hardware.
Take It Off!, 1992, Pomme le Terre. 65-page book on professional stripping secrets, methods and techniques.
The Legacy of Mormon Furniture by Marilyn Conover Baker, 1995, Gibbs Smith, contributor and author of Chapter 5 Faux Painting and Graining Techniques.
1805 Turning Bench, 1999, 8 sheets 11" by 17" suitable
for framing. Complete details on
the construction of a wooden treadle lathe.
ilovewood.com, 2000 – Internet web site containing historical information about traditional American woodworking.
Woodworker's Journal, August, 2001, page34 - Historic Puzzle Mallet, revealing the secret of the compound dovetail trick joint.
Woodworker's Journal, February, 2002, Quebec Chair, a classic North American chair in spruce, painted and grained with a rawhide 'gut' seat in a snowshoe weave.
Exhibits:
1976- “Indians, Trappers & Explorers 1776-1847”, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, Utah Bicentennial Exhibit, loan of historical materials.
1982- “American Mountain Men Exhibit”, The Heritage Museum, Layton, Utah, loan of historical materials and exhibit curator.
1984- “Finials, Spindles, Dovetails and Fiddlebacks”, Utah State Historical Society, loan of historical materials and interpretive (first person) program for school groups.
1984- “Pioneer Painted and Grained Furniture”, Home & Garden Show. 7 Ribbons awarded to 4 pieces of “new” pioneer furniture (including Best in Show).
1985- “Art for Worship Space”, Salt Lake Arts Council, Finch Lane Gallery, Gondola Chair, Ladder back Chair and Pioneer Cradle.
1985- “Whitney General Store, Kirkland, Ohio”, one of 10 annual Historic Preservation Presidential Awards.
Interests:
Fly Fishing, Hiking, Camping, Botany, Art, Computers, History and People.
Specialization:
Artifact Dating, Documentation and Restoration
Nineteenth Century Technology
Controlled stripping to the original finish
Antique Furniture Finishes
Technical Writing and Illustrating
Wood and Tree Identification
Painted and Grained Furniture and Woodwork, especially Mormon Furniture
Native American Cosmology, History and Woodworking
Edible and Medicinal Plants.
Products:
Moses T’s All Natural Wood Care Products: St. John’s Oil, St. John’s Wax, Gunstocker’s Finish, Reviver, Oxyguard and Leather Reviver. Traditional Pigments, Ground Hide Glue and other Restoration Materials.