Mike Angel
London, Ky, KY
Website: http://www.reddogchairs.com/
Kentucky born Mike Angel had been interested in woodworking for years but only took it up earnestly after retiring from a fascinating career.
After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in the early 1960s, Mike worked as a trooper with the Kentucky State Police out of Pikeville, Kentucky. In 1970, he became a special agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms of the U.S. Treasury Department and, during his career, was stationed in a variety of cities throughout the United States.
He refinished some hickory-bottom chairs. This project inspired Mike to study old-fashioned Appalachian designs, and experiment with woodworking techniques that led to making hickory-bottom chairs from scratch.
He created his own line of traditional "mule-ear" chairs, so-called because of the way the back posts of the chairs stick up, like ears on a mule.
There is a beutiy in wood that can only be found when someone like Mike Angel knows how to make that beauty show through in finely hand crafted funiture. Mike is a member of four juried guilds, including the Kentucky Guild of Craftmen and Artist. His furniture is owned by many corporations, institutions and several well-known people, including the former U.S. President, George H. W. Bush.
What was originally a leisurely pursuit has developed into a thriving business.
