Alan Daigre is a chair maker and hand tool craftsman living in Readyville, TN, a rural farming community 60 miles southeast of Nashville. Alan developed an appreciation for history and heritage growing up in beautiful Natchez, MS, the oldest city on the Mississippi River. From that time he has held a fascination for the “old ways” and for a time when people used their own hands and a few simple tools to make what was needed to get by.

Alan’s work is often inspired by natural textures and clean, simple lines. He takes pride in creating rope rockers that are not only beautiful but meticulously constructed and unsurpassed in comfort. Materials are selected based on grain patterns and texture and careful attention is given to detail in joinery and finishing work. He incorporates traditional post and rung and mortise and tenon joinery using hand carved pegs resulting in a rocker with strength and integrity. His more traditional chair designs start as a log that is hand split and shaped with a draw knife and spoke shave on a shaving horse in the style made popular by the Shakers over 150 years ago. Every chair and rope rocker is uniquely crafted from a mix of indigenous Tennessee hardwoods, often from his 70-acre property.

For each handmade piece, Alan takes painstaking measures in choosing colors, grain patterns and textures so no two items are alike. Most of his work is done on a commission basis; however, he occasionally has items for sale in his shop, in galleries or through shows. Generally a 50% deposit is required to begin the work with the balance due upon delivery, unless other arrangements are made. Items are crated and insured for safe shipping. There is currently a 4-6 month wait on most items.

Alan is also the cofounder of Appalachian Life Workshops, a traditional handcraft school, located on the site of a 150 year old homestead on his property. He and fellow craftsman, Jim McGie, teach a variety of old-time woodworking skills such as Spoon Carving, Chair Making, Poplar Bark Baskets, Harvesting and Weaving Hickory Bark and Hewing Dough Bowls. Alan and Jim are passionate about keeping alive the skills, techniques and traditions of the craftsmen who came before them. Visit www.appalachianlifeworkshops.com for more details.