Building with Community: Meet Anthony Shepherd of Attwood Woodworking

By inside + out | October 10, 2023

Ever wondered how to make that flea market find sparkle? Calling all vintage lovers, flea market warriors and creatives who love working with their hands. Discover the fundamentals of furniture repair and refinishing with a short demo and Q&A with experienced woodworker and antique restorer Anthony Shepherd of Attwood Woodworks. Anthony will guide you through the process of selecting and identifying eligible pieces, their finishes, the required supplies, restoring methods, and the use of shellac and wax.

Have questions? Bring a photo of your piece for advice.

Inside+Out Upstate NY is pleased to continue our support of the Kingston Design Connection and Ulster Habitat For Humanity’s ongoing series–Building With Community. Let’s get to know Anthony Shepherd of Attwood Woodworks!

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INSIDE+OUT: Tell us about yourself: Where were you born and how did you wind up in the Hudson Valley?

Anthony Shepherd: I was born in England. We moved around the world pretty much every two years during my formative years and finally settled in Cambridge, just north of London. Prior to going to university, I took a year off and decided to go backpacking and ended up in NYC on my way to Fiji to visit an old boarding school buddy who lived here. The rest is history! We ended up in the Hudson Valley, to quote Jimmy Mcmillian, “The rents (in NYC) are damn high!” But really, we ended up in the Hudson Valley because we watched a documentary, Little White Lie, by Lacey Schwartz Delgado; there was something relatable about her story, which was set in and around Kingston, and something about it piqued our interest in the city and area.

What inspired your interest in woodworking and restoration. What was your personal journey?

I wish I had a romantic answer for this question, but that friend I was visiting in NYC, well, his uncle, was a partner in an antique furniture restoration firm in Tribeca. His business was growing, and they needed some help, and I needed funds to help me travel the world. It was only supposed to be temporary. I ended up working for him for 16 years! It was in that shop that I learned what it was to be creative and work with my hands. As someone who grew up playing sports at a competitive level and was about to enter college to study political science and English literature, being creative and working with my hands was not a muscle I had ever flexed or even considered. In short, I owe my interest in furniture restoration and woodworking to Ian, my old boss. He nurtured me and showed me the craft patiently with kindness and, more importantly, at a natural pace, the type of pace you need if you really want to learn a craft.

What type of projects do you prefer, and who are your clients? How do your clients find you?

It varies, depending on my workload. If I’ve just come off building and installing a custom kitchen, I’m ready for a restoration project where I can zen out and spend days French polishing an antique regency dining table or gold leafing a carved baroque mirror. I love that I can bounce between the two disciplines of custom cabinetry furniture and antique restoration. My clients are primarily interior designers and architects.

“And, believe it or not, I get a fair amount of work through Instagram. I love that someone who lives in New Orleans can be having dinner with a friend in NYC who has a friend who is an antique dealer in Hudson that just received a shipment, of which the finish is cracked and damaged and needs to get fixed. That person from New Orleans says, “Hey, I follow this guy, Anthony. You should tell your friend to reach out to him.” True story.

What was your favorite project to date? What would be your dream assignment?

My clients may read this, so I will say all my projects are my favorite. Still, if you had to put me to the sword, I’d say one that comes to mind was a hall tree I replicated from the amalgamation of images the client sent me and architectural details that already existed in the house. The client was very specific about replicating the patina of the finish to match the existing finish in the house, which was music to my ears, and they really let me run with it as far as design suggestions. Fundamentally, any project where I get to exert multiple disciplines of woodworking or finishing, specifically more traditional finishing, is a rewarding and fulfilling job for me. As far as dream assignment, I’ve always fantasized that by some miracle, the dean of Cambridge University would start following me on Instagram and by happenstance, they were also looking for someone to restore all the amazing English oak woodwork in all the colleges. This way, I would get to see a lot more of my Mum and sister. And seeing as we are dreaming, the job comes with a million-dollar contract.

What is the most rewarding and most challenging part of your job?

It’s the same answer for reward and challenge: starting a new project. A new project is always a new puzzle–a time to reset, come up for air, something new to figure out; that is the challenge. A new project can sometimes seem impossible, not doable. But when you walk off the installation and look at what you just made/created, it blows my mind. As far as restoration projects, “it’s all gravy,” there are challenges blending colors, color correction veneers matching /graining, but the challenges are nanoscopic in comparison to the reward of preserving a piece so it will be around for another generation to re-love, and everything old is new again.

The Hudson Valley is rapidly growing. Is that a good thing for your business, and if so, in what ways?

Unequivocally, YES! In my own experience, I see a direct correlation between the growth of the Hudson Valley and the growth of my own business. If I had to put a number on it, I would say five years ago, I was downstate 70% of the time and local the other 30%. Fast forward a few years and a pandemic, and those numbers have reversed, so less time commuting, more time in the shop early home with the family.

What are you working on now that you’re excited about? Any new plans?

On the docket right now, I have some commercial work coming up for a women’s wear brand. I love commercial work. But what I’m really excited about is a piece of furniture I have had in my possession for some time that a very patient client entrusted me with to restore. It is a Flemish-English inlaid perspective marquetry tabletop cabinet from the early 1600s. I have just been waiting for a slot in my schedule to give it my undivided attention because this piece is phenomenal, made up of 28 different kinds of wood, original iron hardware, and original shellac patina, just exquisite. It comes with documentation, and the word on the street is that it may be donated to the Frick Museum in NYC. I’m really going to geek out on this one. As far as new plans lately, I have been festering on the idea of giving back and mentorship and generally trying to imbue some passion for the craft to anyone who will listen to me. Recently, this notion materialized when I was asked to do a Q&A in conjunction with Kingston Design Connection. I also taught a class in Kingston with more classes scheduled on the horizon, hoping to really exercise that muscle of teaching and mentoring more.

What local businesses do you rely on to be successful?

I would not be in business if it were not for my lumber suppliers: Connecticut Plywood, based out of Albany and slightly more local Condon Lumber in Stormville over Dutchess County. But hyper-local for me would be the hardware stores I frequent, namely Herzogs in Kingston. But how successful I am is dependent on getting a good cup of joe. So, I guess every coffee shop en route from Kingston to my workshop in New Paltz.

What is missing in the area that you wish we had?

Professionally, I wish Abbots Paint, based in Brooklyn, had a store closer to me, a Disneyland for finishers; they have every finish under the sun. For pure joy and self-indulgence, I wish, and I may be reverting to type, but I wish there was a good fish & chip shop; to my knowledge, there is no chippy in the Hudson Valley. Although I hear “fish fry” is a thing in Albany.

If you weren’t a woodworker, what would you be doing?

A chef, my kitchen is my happy place. I navigate through the kitchen similarly to how I navigate a project. I assemble my ingredients and then begin to build the layers until the project is cooked and not burnt. That would be bad.

What is your current state of mind?

I’m feeling grateful right now for my family, my work and life here in the Hudson Valley, which I think equates to having a balance. My current state of mind is balanced. Is tired a state of mind?