Some of my favorite work happens when I get to build alongside another maker. About a year ago, I made a Jack Skellington for a rocker that Justin La Gra built — Justin’s a fellow artist and carpenter I was glad to collaborate with. He built the chair; I made Jack to join him on it. You can go see it, and sit in it, at The Carpenter’s House in downtown Olympia.
But Jack was only ever half the story.
If you know The Nightmare Before Christmas, you know Jack doesn’t get his happy ending on his own. He gets it with Sally — the one who was quietly stitched together for exactly that. A year of Jack rocking there by himself has felt, honestly, a little unfinished.
So it’s time. I’m making Sally, and reuniting the couple.
Here’s the part I’m excited about: she’s not squeezing onto Jack’s chair. She’s getting a rocker of her own. Two chairs, built to sit side by side — a matched pair, the way a couple is a pair. Jack on his, Sally on hers, the same hand and the same care carried across both so they read as one idea told twice. Set them together and the story finally closes.
That’s the thing about work like this. A good piece doesn’t just get bought and carried home — it pulls you back to finish what you started, chapter by chapter, until it’s whole. That’s the difference between owning furniture and collecting it.
Jack’s had the spotlight to himself long enough. Go say hello at The Carpenter’s House while he’s still solo — because Sally’s on her way, and soon there’ll be two.