About Beach & Sons Fine Woodworking
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Beach & Sons Fine Woodworking is a family-owned and operated studio in Tennessee, led by John Beach (Founder & Artist) and Natalie Beach (Studio Director). Together, they blend craftsmanship, artistry, and precision to create heirloom-quality intarsia wood murals and custom woodworking that celebrate the natural beauty of wood.

John is the artist behind every piece, designing and handcrafting each work from start to finish using only the natural colors and grains of wood. What began as a creative outlet in a small home workshop has grown into a collaborative family studio where every piece is designed, cut, and finished by hand. Natalie contributes to the design process and manages studio operations and client communication, while their children are beginning to explore the craft alongside them—making each creation a reflection of shared dedication, artistry, and family legacy.

John Beach, Founder & Intarsia Artist

John began teaching himself intarsia woodworking in 2011 as a creative outlet while attending nursing school—and was instantly hooked.

Intarsia is a woodworking technique that involves fitting together individually cut pieces of wood, each chosen for its natural grain and color, to create vivid, three-dimensional images. John handcrafts each piece using a wide range of wood species from around the world. He never uses stains or dyes, relying solely on the natural beauty of the wood to create depth and contrast.

Each finished piece contains dozens—sometimes hundreds—of meticulously cut, shaped, and sanded components. John starts with a pattern and selects each type of wood based on its grain and tone to fit the image he's building. Over the last decade, he has collected more than 100 wood species, giving him an extensive and unique material palette.

Every part of the process is done by hand. John uses a scroll saw (with no automated or CNC tools), then shapes and sands each piece before fitting them together like a high-tolerance jigsaw puzzle. His finished works include intricate murals, animal portraits, landscapes, and more.

In the early days, he worked from patterns created by renowned intarsia artists such as Judy Gale Roberts and Kathy Wise. Today, John creates his own original designs, transforming photographs and ideas into detailed intarsia murals and smaller custom pieces.