DEL DIOS -- When most kids were playing with action figures and board
games, Jeremy vanBeek was given art lessons.

And far from being cautioned by his oil-painter father and
jewelry-designer mother about how tough it is to make a living as an
artisan, the only question they posed to their young son was, "When you
grow up, what is your medium going to be?"

"My parents were always encouraging about art. The greatest lesson they
taught me is it's possible," said vanBeek, owner of Del Dios-based
Liontree Woodworking, a studio that specializes in custom furniture and
wood design. "I was shown every day that you can make a living in the arts
and have a more fruitful life than people normally experience."

VanBeek eschewed a formal education for years of studying under master
craftsmen, including an apprenticeship with Cascade Joinery, a Bellingham,
Wash., wood-design workshop and maker of timber-framed buildings. There
and at other studios, vanBeek studied and built Craftsman- and
Japanese-inspired furniture using the art of joinery, the fitting of wood
without mechanical fasteners such as screws and nails.

"It was a romantic introduction to the hand-tooled, finely crafted side of
woodworking," said vanBeek, 30.

The romance took, and vanBeek moved from Bellingham to San Diego with his
collection of hand tools in 1999 to set up his own shop and design
custom-made cabinetry, furniture and interiors.a

Rick Jackson, owner of Cut & Dried Hardwood, an upscale lumber and
hardware store in Solana Beach, said it is vanBeek's love of the craft and
quest to explore new techniques and woods that make him "one of the top in
his field."

Jackson said he refers many clients to vanBeek.

"He's a very gifted artist. More than just a craftsman, he has a great
flair for design," said Jackson, whose store, in the heart of the Cedros
Design District, caters to craftsmen and home-improvement-minded
consumers. "His combination of creativity, craftsmanship and artistic
talent is way up there. And he is honest; he doesn't tell anyone that he
can do something when he can't."

VanBeek recently completed a months-long project in which he handcrafted
the interior work for a custom home in Point Loma.

Ed Sprague Jr. and his wife, Frieda, said they wanted their new,
3,000-square-foot Craftsman home to have some of the stylish elements
found at The Lodge, the resort adjacent to the Torrey Pines Golf Course.

For regular millwork, such as installing stairs, the Spragues used
traditional woodworkers. But for the cherry-wood paneling, fireplace
mantels and built-in bookcases, they turned to Liontree to create an
arts-and-crafts feel.

"Jeremy really takes a lot of care in what he is doing. He's methodical,
and his work is so good that taking some time just goes with the
territory," Sprague said. "It is hard to describe his work without seeing
it and looking at the detail. A picture doesn't do it justice."

Penni Crabtree - San Diego Union Tribune