Despite this, and his grounding in industrial arts at Berea, Kentucky, Michael attributes his skill to the eight years he spent living off the land, learning husbandry from the old timers of the woods of East Kentucky. Michael's chairs are sought out by a broad spectrum of people - from a former country musician of the year to David Packard, who owns a pair. Michael now divides his time between his workshop in Colorado and Ak'Tenamit, a clinic that provides health services for over 6000 Kekchi Myan Indians in Guatemala. While he never anticipated dedicating his craft solely to chairmaking, the artist finds that his work makes his Guatemalan trips delivering clothes and medical supplies possible. Custom designed chairs may be ordered in a number of exotic woods, among them black walnut, curly and bird's eye maple, purple heart, red heart, bubinga, quilted birch.
Seats can be nylon, hickory, bark, or upholstered.