Patrick Edwards
BIOGRAPHY
WILLIAM PATRICK EDWARDS PERSONAL INFORMATION
William Patrick Edwards, born in Los Angeles in 1948, relocated with his family to San Diego in 1958, where he attended school until he graduated from college. Married to Kristen Arrivee, they both raised three sons, Todd, Eric and Matthew. Patrick and Kristen live and work in North Park, an historic residential and commercial district in San Diego.
PHYSICS BACKGROUND
While attending high school, Patrick qualified for Honors Physics and Calculus classes. During his senior year, Patrick designed and constructed a 500 mV linear electron particle accelerator, which won first place at the San Diego Science Fair, special awards from IEEE and the Optimist Nuclear Physics Achievement, and entitled him to participate in Westcon 67, the national Science Fair. However, Patrick made the decision to spend the summer of 1967 riding his bicycle around Europe, visiting museums and castles, instead of demonstrating his accelerator at Westcon. This decision proved to be transformational, as the exposure to European culture provided a stark alternative to the environment of the physics laboratory.
In the fall of 1967, after returning from Europe, Patrick began his studies at the University of California at San Diego. He selected a curriculum which stressed physics as a major and American history as a minor, but added extra classes in philosophy, music, and other classes not required for graduation as the policy of UCSD in those formative years was to educate “renaissance men,” and that required a diverse range of subjects.
Patrick carried a full quota of classes each quarter, and, in addition, worked 20 hours a week in the Physics Department as a lab technician for each of the 4 years of his study. In that position he was selected by the Physics Department to work on site at Brookhaven National Labs, in New York, during the entire year of 1968, to assist in a major research project. This job required as much as 60
hours a week working on the project, as well as taking the standard load of classes by correspondence, as approved by the University administration.
In June, 1971, he graduated and was awarded a BA in the field of Applied Physics and Information Science. It was a difficult period for physics research and he worked at several diverse engineering jobs before finding employment at Maxwell Labs, in San Diego, in 1972. In that position, he was principally responsible for designing high energy switches. It was at the end of his first year of employment with Maxwell that he finally decided to “retire” from physics and devote all his energies to a field of Decorative Arts.
DECORATIVE ARTS BACKGROUND
To augment his income from his part time job at the Physics Department, Patrick decided to start a small business restoring antique furniture, Antique Refinishers, in the summer of 1969. This enterprise proved extremely lucrative, as the market for antiques was quite strong during the 1970’s leading up to the Centennial celebration. Patrick supported his business by traveling frequently to the East Coast to purchase antiques, transport them back to San Diego, restore them and sell them at his business location, as well as antique shows.
It was at one of these antique shows that he was asked to teach Decorative Arts in a local adult school. As these classes were quite popular at that time, and generally held at night, it was possible to attend class at UCSD and work in the Physics Department during the week days, refinish and sell antiques on the week end, and teach classes 4 nights a week. Patrick developed a full semester program of Decorative Arts, which consisted of 18 different 3 hour lectures, covering the entire history of American furniture.
In this position as instructor, Patrick taught at virtually every adult school in San Diego county, as well as several colleges, including Southwestern College, UCSD Extension, Coastline Community College, UC Irvine, and others, from 1972 to 1985. After 1985 he continued to be invited to speak on different occasions to various historical and society groups throughout California, and those activities continue to the present time. These include: Kingsley Art Club (Sacramento), Palladian Society (Rancho Santa Fe), American Society of Appraisers, (International Conference), International Society of Appraisers (International Conference), San Juan Capistrano Decorative Arts Center, Antiquarian Society of California, La Jolla Antiquarian Society, Huntington Beach Library, Banning Residence Museum (Wilmington).
Patrick holds current California Teaching Credentials, valid for life in the
In 2012 Patrick was asked to provide video material for the Art Institute of Chicago. This project, which was just completed, required producing copies of Boulle and Roentgen marquetry surfaces in stages, which were then filmed. The result was a short video which is available in the AIC galleries on monitors for the public to understand how these surfaces were created. Assisting in this project was Patrice Lejeune, a partner in Patrick’s business, Antique Refinishers.
CALIFORNIA STATE SUPERINTENDENT POSITION
Between 1987 and 1995 Patrick served as a State Superintendent in charge of the Design in Wood Show, held annually at the Del Mar Fair. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing the largest public woodworking show in the country, with an average attendance of a million visitors. He hired and directed judges, organized the entries, which averaged 350 each year, supervised the various woodworking demonstrations, created the “19th Century Cabinetshop,” which produces 50 oak children’s chairs a year for charity, and coordinated hundreds of volunteers and staff personnel from the San Diego Fine Woodworker’s Association, sponsors of the show.
Before he accepted the position of Superintendent for this show, he entered and won awards for his work, as well as serving as judge. After he retired from this position, he continued to enter and win awards, including Best of Show, for his work.
PUBLICATIONS
In 1996 he published an article, “Marquetry Chevalet” in the June issue of American Woodworker magazine, which explained the basic operation of that tool, and how a simple, homemade version could be constructed on a budget.
In 1997 Patrick presented a paper at the American Institute for Conservation conference which discussed several important marquetry conservation procedures. This paper was the result of his participation in an international marquetry conservation group, ADEN, located in Paris, and which met annually to discuss related issues. The paper was titled “Current Trends in Conservation of Marquetry Surfaces” and was subsequently published in the AIC Journal.
When the Society of American Period Furniture Makers was first organized, Patrick was asked to contribute papers to the Journal. It was a specific goal of that Journal to create a peer reviewed journal, and he wrote articles for each of
the first three issues. The first paper was “Form Follows Function,” which discussed the relationship between worker and tool, as it was transformed by the Industrial Revolution. The second paper was “Why Not Period Glue?” which analyzed the chemistry and historic use of various adhesives designed for wood work. The third paper was “Period Productivity” which introduced the Price Books from the period, and discussed several iconic furniture forms and how long a worker would need to produce them, using hand tools. These papers were published in 2001, 2002 and 2003 respectively.
In 2004 Patrick’s work was illustrated on the back cover of Fine Woodworking, and his article “Low-tech Method for Veneered Columns” was featured in the Master Class section. This article served to explain how early 19th century cabinet makers were easily able to veneer columns using urea modified protein glues.
In 2008 Fine Woodworking Magazine published his article, “Hide Glue,” which discussed the subjective parameters used by early cabinetmakers to analyze, prepare and use traditional protein glues.
Woodwork Magazine published his article, “Painting in Wood,” in 2008. This illustrated article was designed to show, step by step, how the complex marquetry surfaces commonly found on late 17th century European furniture was produced. The example shown in this article was a late 17th century tall case marquetry clock, which he made using period methods and materials.
Currently Patrick’s writings can be viewed on his blog:
http://www.WPatrickEdwards.blogspot.com
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
n 1982 a new group of woodworkers was created in San Diego, the San Diego Fine Woodworker’s Association, which sponsored the annual show, Design In Wood, at the Del Mar Fair. Patrick joined this group in 1982, participated in the Design In Wood shows as an exhibitor, winning several awards, served as judge in several shows and, for 9 years was the Superintendent of that show. He is still a member of that group, and the Design In Wood show is currently the longest running and largest public display of juried woodwork in the country.
In 1992 Patrick was invited to join the newly created international group of marquetry conservation professionals, ADEN, in Paris. As a member of this group, which met twice a year in Europe, he participated in research into various issues which were focused on the problems encountered during conservation
and restoration of complex decorative surfaces on furniture. The research was conducted in Nancy, France, at the Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Technologies Et Industries Du Bois, and the papers were published in conjunction with the Musee des Arts Decoratifs, in Paris, where the meetings were held. He remained a member of this group until it was disbanded in 2000.
In the year 2000, Patrick joined the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, and was a member of the Wooden Artifacts Group for several years.
Also, in 2000, when the Society of American Period Furniture Makers first organized and met at Williamsburg’s annual “Working Wood in the 18th Century” Patrick became a member. He participated as a demonstrator, showing how French marquetry was produced, and wrote articles for the first three Journals of the SAPFM. In 2014 Patrick was selected to receive the prestigious Cartouche Award for lifetime achievement.
CONSERVATOR IN PRIVATE PRACTICE: ANTIQUE REFINISHERS
Since 1969, Patrick’s principal occupation has been conservation and restoration of pre industrial furniture. He started the business, Antique Refinishers, in San Diego, and it continues to be his primary activity today. In this business, he is recognized as an expert witness in court, where he authenticates early pieces, using scientific analysis. The activities of this business include structural and cosmetic conservation and restoration of wooden artifacts, traditional upholstery methods, marquetry conservation and restoration, and related activities, focusing exclusively on traditional methods, tools and materials. He only uses hand tools and works daily “at the bench.”
This business has served the needs of a wide range of clients, dealers and museums over the years, and continues to be the most recognized workshop in Southern California which specializes in pre industrial activities. The business has been in the same location for over 40 years. During this time, his clients included: State Capitol Restoration (Sacramento), Old Mill (Pasadena), Workman-Temple Homestead (City of Industry), Whittier Mansion (California Historical Society San Francisco), Quartermass-Wilde House (San Diego), Christian House (San Diego Heritage Park), Villa Montezuma (San Diego), Museum of Man (San Diego Balboa Park), Museum of Fine Arts (San Diego Museum of Man), among others.
As part of this business, Patrick makes re creations of early furniture, entirely by hand, which have been collected by investors in Dallas, Houston, Sacramento,
Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Rancho Santa Fe, Fairbanks Ranch, La Jolla, Palos Verdes, New York and Chicago. Several of his creations have been exhibited in museums and featured in magazines.
From 1976 to 1985, Patrick worked as the furniture conservator at the Phineas Banning Residence Museum, in Wilmington (Los Angeles). This residence, built in 1864, is the finest Greek Revival house west of the Mississippi, still standing on its original foundation. This job required finish conservation, restoration and upholstery of all the furnishings of the three story museum, as well as consulting with the administration to install these furnishings in “period” room settings. In addition, an inventory was created and lectures were provided to the docents.
As a direct result of the research conducted by the group ADEN, Patrick decided to investigate the modification of protein glues, with the goal of extending the open time and reducing the gel point. The result, after several years of experimentation, is the product Old Brown Glue, which has been distributed both across North America as well as internationally. In the field of animal protein glues, Patrick is considered the “glue guru.”
INSTRUCTOR: THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF FRENCH MARQUETRY
In 1992 Patrick was invited to attend class at ecole Boulle, in Paris, where he studied under Dr. Pierre Ramond. As such, he joined a handful of American students who have received such an invitation. He returned for study in this workshop for each of the next three years, completing his studies in 1995. At that time, Patrick became the only workshop in North America which was accredited by ecole Boulle to receive their students for extended study. From 1996-2000 there were 18 students from ecole Boulle who travelled to San Diego to work on projects in his shop. At that time, Dr. Ramond retired from his position and the program was terminated.
In that same year, 2000, he received the support of Dr. Ramond to create his own school, following the same program as that at ecole Boulle. The American School of French Marquetry was installed on the second floor of a new addition to the location of Antique Refinishers. This allows Patrick to divide his time between working on furniture conservation in the business, and teaching marquetry in the school.
The school has received hundreds of students over the years, from many countries. Each student is provided with a short introduction to the methods used by French workers to design and assemble complex marquetry surfaces. Additional instruction is provided by Patrice Lejeune, a partner in the business,
who graduated from ecole Boulle and is a skilled professional furniture conservator.
PHILOSOPHY
A critical period in Patrick’s life occurred between graduating from High School and graduating from College. During these few years there was a complete transformation of his career objectives. A major factor in his life during that time was his experience traveling through Europe and the East Coast visiting museums and antique shops. That lifestyle conflicted directly with his original career path which would have ended up in a physics laboratory, doing research.
From 1967 to 1973 Patrick was occupied full time essentially living two completely opposite activities. Both were intellectually stimulating, and he was proficient at each. One involved the most advanced technology available to modern science, and the other involved historic and traditional methods, which were nearly lost in time to contemporary workers. His struggle to choose between these two divergent occupations involved serious economic, emotional and moral, practical and intellectual issues.
After completing his studies and working for two years in his chosen career of physics, which included exciting and challenging projects and cutting edge research into particle physics, he faced a decision. The head of personnel at Maxwell Labs presented Patrick with an ultimatum when his contract came up for renewal: choose between physics and antiques. As a salaried employee of the company, it was expected that he would be available to work evenings and weekends. However, he was teaching classes in Decorative Arts 4 nights a week and running his antiques business on the weekends.
At that time it became immediately clear that he would “retire” from physics completely and devote his life to the field of Decorative Arts. In fact, it was a conscious decision to turn his attention away from modern technology and focus all his energies on pre industrial “technology.”
This decision changed his life and philosophy of work as illustrated in his paper, “Form Follows Function.” For example, instead of the “workmanship of certainty,” he adopted the “workmanship of risk.” Instead of pushing the work into the machine, he pushed the tool into the work, gaining mastery of his basic tools, instead of relying on the complicated machinery to do the work.
As a trained analog thinker, he refused to accept the digital world.
