Sep 15, 2026 · 54 min · 14 segments
In this episode, I’m honoured to talk with renowned American woodworker and designer Mira Nakashima, President and Creative Director of George Nakashima Woodworkers, founded by her celebrated father…
Mira NakashimaGuest
Wren LoucksHost
And were you sort of developing your own sort of woodwork pieces and things? Like, you know, were you doing your own sort of art projects or creating your own furniture during that time?
Oh, well, while my father was alive, you did what dad told you to do and don't question his authority.
I was responsible for taking the orders and finding the wood and developing the designs myself, rather than doing what Dad had told me to do.
So I decided I should sign my name, and my mother wasn't watching, so it was okay.
And do you feel, I mean, that makes sense to me, you know, you're curating the materials and, you know, creating the piece.
I mean, do you feel, can you tell the difference between pieces that you've made and your father? Do you feel that you have your own sort of signature in a way?
But, you know, in the Minghe tradition, you apprentice with the master and you try to learn what they are doing and do everything as they would do it.
But everybody has their own set of hands and brains and things come out a little different.
So when we ran out of that original order for the Krosnicks in Princeton, I had to start all over from scratch, from the raw material, from developing the design myself rather than working off something that Dad had already sketched out.
And were you sort of developing your own sort of woodwork pieces and things? Like, you know, were you doing your own sort of art projects or creating your own furniture during that time?
Oh, well, while my father was alive, you did what dad told you to do and don't question his authority.
I was responsible for taking the orders and finding the wood and developing the designs myself, rather than doing what Dad had told me to do.
So I decided I should sign my name, and my mother wasn't watching, so it was okay.
And do you feel, I mean, that makes sense to me, you know, you're curating the materials and, you know, creating the piece.
I mean, do you feel, can you tell the difference between pieces that you've made and your father? Do you feel that you have your own sort of signature in a way?
But, you know, in the Minghe tradition, you apprentice with the master and you try to learn what they are doing and do everything as they would do it.
But everybody has their own set of hands and brains and things come out a little different.
So when we ran out of that original order for the Krosnicks in Princeton, I had to start all over from scratch, from the raw material, from developing the design myself rather than working off something that Dad had already sketched out.
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