"I believe it is essential that I achieve a balance between commissions that are a personal artistic challenge in my lifelong quest for mastery of my craft, and projects that have a broader degree of social and economic relevance to the world in which we live."
Michael Fortune
Michael Fortune's career in woodworking started in childhood, when his parents gave him woodworking tools as a gift. Their encouragement led him to furniture design at the Sheridan College School of Craft and Design. Graduating in 1974, Fortune took advantage of provincial and federal travel/study grants to learn the contemporary European approach to being both a designer and maker of wood furnishings.
Fortune is acclaimed for his innovative, but resolved, designs for one-of-a-kind objects in wood, commissioned residential furnishings and items in limited editions.
In 1980, a Toronto couple commissioned him design and build a dining set. This turning-point in Fortune's career led him to numerous public and private commissions, including a 27-foot-long boardroom table at Ontario Crafts Council headquarters in Toronto. Fortune's innovative work has brought him an international clientèle and reputation. He is acknowledged for both his technical and design expertise, and gives courses and workshops across Canada and the United States. His work has appeared in numerous exhibitions worldwide.
As past President of the Ontario Crafts Council, Fortune played a key role in shaping craft in Toronto and throughout Canada. Fortune is also a volunteer advisor to W.A.R.P. (Woodworkers Alliance for Rainforest Protection), a joint Canadian/American organization promoting sustainable and appropriate use of rainforest resources.
Selected works
