About Michael Alexander Designs

Michael Alexander passed away on June 22nd, 2011.
His talent and humor are greatly missed. A selection of remaining inventory is still available, and Michael Alexander Designs will participate in the annual Fall Art Tour for the last time this October. Please contact the family if you have any questions at 608-546-6683.

Michael Alexander: Passionate About Wood

"I see the woods as a living whole that's complete and unbroken with everything having its' purpose," says local wood artist, designer, and builder Michael Alexander. "Small aspen trees make oaks grow tall and straight because these trees compete with each other for sunlight. And the undesirable shrub gives birds the cover they have to have. In the life of a forest everything works together and every step has a purpose".

Michael Alexander's passion for and understanding of our living forests goes into each piece of furniture he designs and builds. By only harvesting trees that are in decline his building process literally is from decline to design. Those who attend this year's Fall Art Tour will be able to visit Michael's studio and see how trees are harvested and then, after going through a solar drying process, selected well before the design and artistic process begins. This step-by-step process is how design becomes living art. The 2009 Fall Art Tour website sums it up nicely; Michael Alexander Designs are "smart, green, daring minimalist-modern furniture with an edge".

"My favorite wood comes from the Catalpa tree", says Michael. This is a tall tree with big distinctive leaves, long, skinny 'beans' and gorgeous white spring flowers". "Catalpa is an amazing wood that can be worked into beautiful modern designs. It has a very complex grain. Along with the typical grain patterns you would expect to find in such a beautiful tree, the grain of the Catalpa spins out these beautiful long colorful trails that are perfect for modern design projects.

Michael is also the president of the planning commission for Franklin Township. "Sustainable forestry is something I really do feel is very important. More and more people are getting involved in protecting and maintaining our forest areas," he says, and comprehensive planning is the only way this can be accomplished. Three of the main objectives of Sauk County's new comprehensive plan have to do with sustaining our forests.

For Michael, trail riding through White Mound Park on cool evenings is pure bliss. "Right now riding is my favorite joy but I felt the same way about dancing", he says. He has served as the president of Madison West Coast Swing Club.

Michael's three adult children have moved on but they share their father's dedication to sustainable forestry and return to their beloved rural Wisconsin to work with him whenever they get the chance.

Michael's career began with a move to Chicago with two of his five brothers. The three of them got into the business of renovating old buildings in the Lincoln Park area. After completing several very successful restoration projects with his brothers he returned to Wisconsin and the rural land that he had grown attached to or, as he jokes, had become attached to him. Knowing a good deal when he sees one he soon took on 330 acres of "ignored" land with the kind of pioneer spirit you find in rural Wisconsin. It was through the hard work of clearing and working with downed trees that he learned how to 'see' living designs in wood.

Michael still feels that "rural Wisconsin needs young visionary people. Its hard work and rural life sometimes can be a little overwhelming but at the end of the day I can't think of anything I would rather be doing". Along with his local design studio, Michael has continued his building and renovation business. In addition to bringing many vintage homes back to their original glory Michael also builds new additions designed to seamlessly fit with the original building's design. He has done restoration work on Unity Chapel with his friend Bob Graves. (See _______.) and he's worked on many family homes in the area including his own.

Michael, with his beloved blue heeler Jill, lives in a farmhouse that he renovated by adding a panoramic porch and a dramatic staircase and a much larger and relocated kitchen with a multi-layered ceiling full of curves and lights and welcoming sunny colors. Just a few steps away is his studio and workshop and a solar kiln he designed to dry all his wood. Always innovating he's building a solar collection system out of a nearby existing barn to maintain the dried wood and keep it in the proper condition. What's next? Michael is converting a vacant silo to store the heat generated by his solar collector.

" In some of the forests we have maples becoming the dominant species", observes Michael. "If this happens the understory, including native species that need sunlight, will not be able to live. We stopped the natural fires that helped the oaks to grow and prevented the shady maples from taking over." According to local ecologist Gigi La Budde, sustainable forestry has to have three goals. These are low-impact timber harvesting; healthy human communities, and protected ecosystems and biological diversity. I'm committed to this and sustainable forestry, "I only wish I had started thirty years ago."