About George Ainley
My father's love of the forest and woodcraft rubbed off on me. It has been very satisfying to express these early influences through my Windsor chair making. I finished my formal education at Dartmouth College in 1970, chosen largely because of its outdoor orientation, and began my woodworking soon after.
My wife Julie and I live along with our two children in a house we built on thirty acres of Vermont pasture, mowing, and woodland. My chair making shares the barn with the sheep. Our woods have nice oak and maple, but rather than cutting our best trees, I'm happy to be only a mile from a small hardwood mill where I can buy my pick of straight-grained, healthy logs from an ample assortment. That is one of the great things about chair making. I start with whole logs, work them with hand tools, and come out with a great product that has classic beauty and utility.
Windsor Furniture is, I believe, the most characteristically American and the most historically significant furniture style to emerge from eighteenth century America. It is a democratic style, one which appealed to and was used by all levels of American society. Windsor furniture was practical indoors or out, in public buildings or private residences, in the country or in the city. It accommodated children and adults. Furthermore, the Windsor style was adapted to a wide variety of furniture forms. Chairs, settees, tables, stands, stools, cradles---all lent themselves to adaptations in the Windsor style.-from Charles Santore's The Windsor Style in America