I'm not sure when I began making things out of wood, but I had my first carving tools when I was nine - the same year I got my first carving book. I still have both. After a diversion to study painting and get a degree in art history, I spent the next eight years making frames, the first four in New York with Robert Kulicke as a carver of antique reproduction frames. The next four were in San Francisco where I not only carved but did the gilding and finishing as well. I started making furniture and cabinets in 1961 with my first shop on Potrero Hill in San Francisco before moving my business to Oakland in 1966. I have worked alone with a succession of apprentices.

My designs are informed for the most part by the work of the late 19th and early 20th century architects and furniture makers of the Arts & Crafts movement in all its manifestations from Scotland to Russia as well as the United States; Greene & Greene in California, Charles Rennie Mackintosh in Scotland and the English Arts & Crafts center in the Cotswolds in particular. I have also been involved in several Bernard Maybeck restoration projects locally.

Commissions have included the University of California Berkeley, Oakland Museum, California College of Arts & Crafts, East Bay Regional Park District, City of Berkeley (Public Library), many churches and synagogues as well as many individuals.
Read more about Miles Karpilow
in A Craftsman's Journey,
by David Meiland

Karpilow Bibliography
 

Bibliography

A Staircase Comes Out of the Closet. Fine Homebuilding, #49 Oct.-Nov. 1988, pp. 78-82.

Meiland, David. Miles Karpilow: A Craftsman's Journey. Woodwork #60 Dec. 1999, pp. 28-37.

Recycled Redwood Wainscoting. Fine Homebuilding, #128 Jan. 2000, pp. 68-73. Reprinted in For Pros by Pros - Finish Carpentry, Taunton Press 2003.

Carved Maple Armoire. Home Furniture #8 Oct. 1996, pp. 60-62.

Carving Running Patterns. Fine Woodworking, #42 Sept.-Oct. 1983, pp. 46-48. Reprinted in Fine Woodworking on Carving, Taunton Press 1986, p. 18.

A Doormakers' Gallery. Fine Woodworking, #49 Nov.-Dec. 1984, p.43.

Fine Woodworking: Design Book 3. Taunton Press, 1983, Saifer Doors p. 155.

Tarcher, Ben. Cooperative Craftsmanship. Fine Homebuilding, #5 Dec. 1981/Jan. 1982, p. 18. Reprinted in Craftsman-Style Houses, Taunton Press, 1995, p. 119.

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