Tributary Hotel Artist Feature: Greg Klassen
During a stay at our boutique luxury inn in McMinnville, Oregon, you’ll notice distinctive wood-and-glass artwork displayed in our Explorer Suites, hallways, and other areas throughout our space. This combination of carefully chosen wood and blue glass is known as the “River” style, created by Pacific Northwest artist Greg Klassen. Spanning 15 years, Greg’s career is marked by creativity, persistence, and innovation. The team at Tributary spoke with him about his passion for woodworking and his artistic voice.
Tributary Hotel Artist Feature: Greg Klassen
From Hobby Woodworking to International Success
Greg Klassen’s original River Table design was created in 2011, and since its inception, the design has been featured in publications like The Wall Street Journal and Huffington Post, with hundreds of River Tables being sold to customers all over the world. But before his designs found international success, Greg took the leap to open up his one-man artist’s studio at the beginning of the global recession in 2008.
The roots for Greg’s studio were planted in 2004 when Greg took a job at a door-making company that allowed him to take scrap wood home. He started his woodworking hobby with a drill, a saw, and some wood door parts. Greg shares, “I found myself really drawn to wood as a material. As I taught myself woodworking, my creations were crude and simple but I was also raiding the local library and reading everything I could get my hands on.” These woodworking books opened up the world of fine craft and stoked the fires for Greg’s innate desire to create. He worked for a while at a cabinet shop before beginning a two-year study period at a fine woodworking school in Fort Bragg, CA, in 2006, and attending another fine craft school on the island of Öland in Sweden.
Developing an Artistic Voice
Greg resisted the temptation he says many woodworkers face: making the practical choice of becoming a cabinet maker. Instead, he focused on developing his artistic voice. Greg began working with live edge wood slabs in 2011 and, shortly after, developed the design concept for the River Table. Greg explains, “The River Table began as a novel design that turned the live edges from the outside of the tree inward, creating a negative space that I paired with hand-cut blue glass that evoked the feeling of rivers and lakes.”
His original design quickly grew from furniture and into wall-hung artworks as he created what became the “River Collection”. After developing this style, Greg’s work went viral online, propelling him from a self-proclaimed starving artist to working on a 2-year waiting list. Now that his waiting list has returned to a more reasonable timeframe, Greg splits his time between projects for his website and commissions. He continues to focus on creating work he’s excited about, rather than bringing on staff to meet the demand.
Creating One-of-a-Kind Art
Each piece Greg makes is one-of-a-kind. Each table or wall-hanging in his River Collection is its own and cannot be replicated. During COVID-19, Greg purchased a sawmill and now saws slabs from locally salvaged trees. When asked which woodworking styles he enjoys working with, Greg shared, “I enjoy working with local big-leaf maple, walnut, and cedar trees. In terms of woodworking techniques, my pieces are built with traditional woodworking joinery, using wood joints in place of screws or nails. The goal is to create future heirlooms and how the wood is worked has everything to do with that future possibility.”
Greg also shares that he finds inspiration in each carefully chosen hardwood and slowly releases it as he works, giving each piece the careful consideration it deserves. In the pursuit of unique wood, he continues to search all over the US through small sawmill inventories for inspiring wood, in addition to milling his own wood. Any given project will often require the use of 5-10 different woodworking saws, routers, and sanders as well as 10-20 different hand tools like chisels, gouges, drills, and bits to bring to completion.
Creating Connections and Joy Through Art
When we asked Greg about balancing functionality with aesthetics in his work, he shared, “Each are 100% important… I believe the dining table is the most important piece of furniture in the home; it’s where friends and families gather and linger, making connections and creating memories… But for me, it’s more than its function, it’s functional art.” He continues, “I believe whenever possible, it brings us joy to have our daily-use items also be well-designed and beautiful. It just makes life a little sweeter to be surrounded by beautiful things.”
This spirit of joy and connection is immensely important to Greg as an artist, furniture maker, husband, and father of three. It’s part of what has allowed him to keep experimenting and sharing his work, fostering a business that has sent his work all around the world and turned customers into collectors. Greg’s most recent project is a commission for a couple building a home on the edges of a gorge in Greece—an impressive 20.5’ long River Table featuring beautiful walnut from Oregon’s Willamette Valley—that he is excited to deliver and install with his family.
Enjoy Greg’s Art at our Hotel in McMinnville, Oregon
At Tributary Hotel, our luxury boutique hotel in McMinnville, Oregon, we are honored to display original artwork by Greg Klassen, alongside a carefully curated selection of local amenities.
Book now to reserve your stay in the Willamette Valley.
Connect With Artist Greg Klassen
See more of Greg’s work and support his business on his website, https://www.gregklassen.com/.
Have your own project in mind? Greg loves working with his customers to create a special piece of art for their homes and can be reached with questions or ideas at greg@gregklassen.com.