Biography

Jay McDougall represents the sixth generation of a Minnesota woodworking family. Beginning as lumber, coal and ice merchants, this family tradition has evolved into Jay’s elevating wood as an art medium to a new level. McDougall received his BS degree in Industrial Education with an emphasis in Wood Technology and Furniture Design from UW Stout, Menomonie, WI. Jay has also studied with Tage Frid, Dale Nish, and Lissi Oland. Early influences included the works and philosophies of George Nakashima and James Krenov. His career as a self-employed woodworker has evolved over its 30-plus years. McDougall’s early years were spent designing and building original pieces of furniture. He has been a contributing writer for Fine WoodWorking Magazine, and became heavily involved in the design and construction of entire new house interiors including millwork, furnishings and cabinetry. McDougall’s hand-sculpted vessels are the distillation of this career spent pursuing economy of line and pure forms. Sculpted exclusively from native Minnesota hardwoods these sensuous shapes call forth rolling curves that flow as easily as the undulating hills around Fergus Falls, Minnesota, where he lives and works, collecting logs and transforming them into cherished collectables. From Sausalito California to The Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery Museum Store, Jay’s work can be found in the nation’s most prestigious venues for acquisition by today’s discriminating contemporary craft collectors.