Preserving The Drawings of Philip C. Lowe
My name is Nick Maraldo of Wicked Creek Woodworks . I was a student of Phil's and an instructor at the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts. I have taken on the task of preserving and sharing with the woodworking community nearly 350 drawings done by Phil over the course of his 40-year career.
View and Download samples of the drawings here
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The Goal
Phil kept and cataloged every full size drawing he ever drafted throughout his career. With the help of Artie Keenan, Phil's dearest friend and shop assistant, our goal is to scan and catalog every drawing in his collection. These are full sized drawings with stock lists, mostly of period furniture. The scanning process is very expensive, but we want to preserve these drawings for future generations of woodworkers. Each scan will be of the highest quality in order to produce a beautiful and usable drawing.
We’ve been working closely with John Lorusso at The Big Scan to achieve this lofty goal. He has the right scanner to handle these large drawings, some of which are quite delicate (for example, Phil's 1967 North Bennet Street School student drawings). John will handle the post processing to ensure the drawings are clear and readable. We recommend checking out his website for a demonstration of his work and equipment. John is very excited to take part in this project as this is the kind of work that he is most passionate about.
We intend to make the full collection available to the general public for free
With these drawings, Phil can continue to teach us well into the future. We hope that they will be utilized by woodworking schools, students, and professionals as a way to understand and craft these amazing pieces of furniture. The information held in the drawings is to be shared and used by all. However, the drawings themselves are not to be used in any commercial capacity, for example, reproduction for sale (whether digital or printed) is prohibited. Only works derived from the information held in the drawings are allowed under the copyright.
TO REITERATE: The drawings are free to all to enjoy and learn from. You may use them as a reference to craft furniture from. But the image of the drawings themselves are not to be used, or reproduced, in any way for commercial purposes or monetary gain.
Contributions for this fundraiser are to be considered a gift. We are not a non-profit so your donation is not tax deductible. We appreciate the help and support of the woodworking community to carry out this project. The end product will result in an amazing resource for woodworkers of all types, interests, and abilities.
One thing to note: These are technical drawings and not step-by-step plans. After some drawings are scanned, we intend to release a video explaining how to read and understand them. They are beautiful works of art on their own – some are just magnificent to read.
We will scan the drawings as we receive funding. If contributions exceed the total scanning cost, excess funds will be donated to the Lowe family as a thank you for allowing us to take on this project. They have been through so much these past few years, and we would love to make a contribution to them. Phil gave a great deal to the woodworking community; we hope we can give something in return.
We plan to include as much context with the drawings as possible. If we have pictures of the pieces made from the drawings, or stories to tell, we will include it in the archive. Even if you are not interested in using the drawings to craft furniture or study their construction, this collection is an amazing history of the work Phil has accomplished over his career.
The Society of American Period Furniture Makers (SAPFM) has been a huge help in this process. For the short term, we will make the drawings available to the public through their website as they become available. Links will be provided periodically.
About Phil
Even if you’ve never met Phil, you’ve probably either seen his work, read an article of his, or know someone who has been his student. His reach in the woodworking community is incredibly long. Phil had a long career in making masterwork period furniture and millwork. He was a teacher and mentor for thousands of students both at the North Bennet Street School in Boston and the Furniture Institute of Massachusetts in Beverly, MA. Phil has written countless articles for Fine Woodworking as well as other magazines and books, lectured all over the US, taught classes at all the major woodworking schools, and generated a great library of videos through YouTube and Fine Woodworking Magazine.