Norman Pirollo discovered a passion for working with wood at an early age. Having pursued a career in the IT industry after studying Computer Science, he has since returned to his passion of creating art, sculpture and and studio furniture. Norman fulfills his quest of creating unique studio furniture through Refined Edge Design. As a designer and wood artist, Norman brings to you over sixteen years of expertise. He has acquired woodworking certification and received instruction from renown, contemporary artisans. He is self-taught in the decorative arts. Norman also provides instruction through WoodSkills which he developed to make available the knowledge and expertise he has acquired over the years.
Through the admiration for his art and possessing the necessary virtues such as patience and attention to detail, Norman's goal is to create striking sculptural and wood art. Working primarily by himself and without distractions, Norman focuses on the work at hand. Dedicating himself to one piece at a time, he devotes his full complement of skills to this piece. Although some machine work is necessary in the preparation of wood for his sculpture and wood art, a large component of Norman's handcrafting is performed with hand tools.
Norman prides himself on wood selection, selecting the highest quality and most dramatically figured woods as components of his designs. Design, wood preparation and finishing are a large part of his work and therefore he devotes considerable time to these stages. His work has been featured in books such as "Studio Furniture: Today's Leading Woodworkers", "Wood Art Today 2", the recently released "500 Cabinets" as well as various international magazines. He has most recently been selected as a finalist for the prestigious NICHE Awards. Norman currently resides and operates his studio in a country setting in Ottawa,Ontario.
