Meet Tom And Jennifer Dolese

Jennifer Dolese Jennifer grew up in Missoula, Montana. She received degrees in English and Environmental Studies from the University of Montana. Jennifer worked for the YMCA, the Montana Natural History Center, Clark Fork School, and then became a full-time mom when her daughter was born. Two years later, she took classes in stained and leaded glass window design. Jennifer started building commissioned pieces, often collaborating with Tom. She added tile setting to her work, and most recently, has expanded into the art of marquetry (pictures made with wood veneers), having taken a course at Anderson Ranch Art Center from Craig Vandall Stevens. Her work is influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Prairie Style, the theory of the Golden Rectangle, other artists, and the organic lines and patterns of nature and nature’s inhabitants. Tom Dolese Tom was born on the Navaho Reservation in the small town of Ganado, Arizona. His family moved up to Anchorage, Alaska when he was 4 years old and he lived in Anchorage until he graduated from High School. In college, Tom studied Mathematics, Environmental Geology and Geophysics. Tom's Geophysics work led to doing research in Yellowstone Park and it was there, on his days off, that he built a small scribe-fit log cabin on land owned by his family in the Beartooth Mountains. As he was working on the cabin, especially the interior of the cabin, he realized that he was more interested in creating furniture than the study of Geophysics. After meeting Jennifer and moving to Missoula, Montana, Tom started designing and building furniture; in a few years becoming a full-time furniture maker. Currently, Tom builds gallery and commission pieces in Bellingham, WA. He occasionally teaches woodworking as well. Tom is a member of Artwood, a woodworking cooperative gallery in Bellingham.