RORY JAROS || CHAIR MAKER AT LARGE

"When I came to Southern Illinois in `76 as a carpenter, I saw people burning walnut trees for firewood. I set out to build an enterprise based on this undervalued resource. I began by tailoring a lifestyle that had meager cash flow demands" ~ Rory Jaros

Ancestors from Czechoslovakia began to ply building trade skills as a livelihood after the great Chicago fire. Marketability being what it was, artisan talents lacked flourish and withered. Cobblers and tailors evolved.

For years, my livelihood of carpentry supplied my salary. Land and house were paid for and family roughed in. I made some objects, practiced and researched skills threatened with extinction tantamount to the success of my venture.

In `88, I went public as a chair maker. I always knew my market would be distant and in `91 I broke out of Illinois to artists markets in Wisconsin and Minnesota and began planting seeds.

By determination and reappearance with consistently high quality product, enough seeds have borne fruit to supply in `01 what I consider to be a carpenter's income.

This being my ultimate goal, my success is measured by this achievement with relative grace on my own terms, and success at this venture marks a personal triumph. I've broken out of a gauntlet of trades work to expand skills of workmanship as an artisan. A refugee from the construction industry, I am now CHAIR MAKER AT LARGE.





*The WALDEN ROCKER, inspired by the works of H.D. Thoreau. "Its a lifestyle thing building and naming chairs. It's what Jaros wants to do, it's what Jaros does... he builds heirlooms."* *~ Robert LaRouche* *St. Louis Post Dispatch. Feb 4 '96* "Being a pioneer, of sorts, of alternative courses, he generates electricity from the sun, raises his own food and has strived in his work to maintain that same link to the Earth. The concept of "think globally, act locally" is one that strikes a resonant chord with Jaros. His work represents an equitable engagement with the land, and reflects the heritage of five generations of craftsmanship." *~ Press Release*