Matt Cooper came to furniture making by way of an art degree and carpentry. He studied photography in school -- at the University of California at Santa Cruz -- drawn to its intrinsic modernism and its potential for clear visual expression. After graduating, he worked for several years in advertising photography. He eventually became dissatisfied with its impermanence and began working as a carpenter doing residential remodeling, ultimately specializing in finish carpentry. Sharing a woodshop with a friend was a turning point prompting a change of focus from site work to shop work, and from there to furniture and design. 

 Matt is a graduate of the two-year Mastery Program at the Northwest Woodworking Studio and has been designing and building custom furniture for private clients since 1999. His work is in homes on both coasts and overseas.

In 2004, he and his wife pulled up stakes and moved from Portland, Oregon, across the country to the small hamlet of West Danby, near Ithaca, in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. They've been restoring their (very) old house and have also built a new 1800 sq. ft. shop just a few steps from their back door, allowing Matt to return to full-time woodworking building furniture, cabinetry and built-ins for clients in upstate New York, the Hudson Valley, New York city and beyond. 

"Matt's skill and craftsmanship is surpassed only by his professionalism. His attention to detail and knowledge of his medium is beyond compare."

CD; Portland, Oregon