I didn't start as an artisan. I started as a carpenter, then spent years teaching, and when I retired to Nanaimo in 2012, I finally had the time to do what I had always wanted: work with wood. I grew up in Farnham, Quebec.  It was retirement that allowed me to hone my skills working with wood. I built my studio at home and began making pieces in earnest, exploring what the wood could do. Jewelry boxes, cabinets, furniture, puzzles, urns — each one starts with a piece of timber and ends with something you can hold and keep. In 2018 I began learning French Marquetry, a technique of inlaying thin wood veneers to create pictures and patterns on a surface. I studied under a master craftsman, Paul Miller, the way this art has always been taught. It is slow work. It requires patience. And the result, when it comes together, is something that can't be replicated by a machine. I work with woods from across British Columbia and from around the world — Arbutus from Vancouver Island, Purpleheart from Central America, Bubinga from equatorial Africa, Wenge from the Congo basin. The species I choose shapes everything: the colour, the grain, the weight in your hands. Part of what I make is the wood itself. Every piece I sell carries a number. If you buy something from me, I can tell you exactly what went into it and when it was made. Custom and commissioned work is welcome. If you have something in mind, get in touch. **Pierre Blanchard, BEd, MEd** Nanaimo, BC