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To say Teresa K. Jenkins has lived an interesting, varied life would be a huge understatement.

A Hollywood scriptwriter would be impressed with her story. . .

Jenkins, 46, was born in San Francisco and put up for adoption. She grew up in southern California, where she showed considerable promise in art and athletics.

Teresa K. Jenkins Furniture Maker Landscape Designer

In college, the nearly 6-foot Jenkins was an outstanding track athlete, running the 800-meters in the NCAA nationals while at Cal State-Long Beach, and received a degree in mechanical engineering at Cal State-Los Angeles.

Since then, she has worked in the aerospace industry for 15 years, studied theology with aspirations of becoming an Episcopal priest, and is currently pursuing a joint career in furniture making and landscape design.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Jenkins has traveled a winding road, or that she’s satisfied with where she’s at right now. “Becoming an aerospace engineer just kind of happened,” Teresa said. “Back in the ’80s a lot of African-American women were the first from their families to go to college. We were expected to go to college and get a profession. I was really pushed to become an engineer, or a doctor or a lawyer.

“Now that I’m older and smarter, I’m doing what I want to do.”

Antelope Console Quartersawn Black Walnut with Curly Maple Waterlox, Polyurethane Finish 34" x 48" x 12"

For Teresa, that means exploring her artistic talents through the design and construction of furniture. She lives with her partner and 9-year-old son in Woodland Hills, California, about an hour north of downtown Los Angeles, where she operates Teresa K. Jenkins Design. It’s a company she formed two years ago when she returned to California after six years on the East Coast.

Making the jump from being an electrical cable and harness design engineer at Jet Propulsion Laboratory to furniture making wasn’t that much of a stretch, she points out. “I was part of some really neat space projects, and all the while I was doing different kinds of art at nighttime,” Teresa said. “In order to be excellent at design, you also have to build and understand the process of how things are built.

“Design is a process of thinking things through, whether it’s landscape architecture or engineering. You have to come up with the concept and then work out the details, and that applies to woodworking.”


Teresa completely immersed herself in woodworking when she left the aerospace industry to take a one-year apprenticeship under furniture maker Jeffrey Greene in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. “I was one of three apprentices who worked on his client’s orders,” Teresa said. “I was just sort of tossed in and hit the ground running.”

Leigh Console Tiger Maple, Black Walnut Waterlox, Polyurethane Finish 34" x 54" x 13"

"M" Coffee Table Bubinga, Black Walnut Waterlox, Polyurethane Finish 15 ½" x 48" x 24"

“I’m looking towards getting into galleries and doing more one-of-a-kind pieces, rather than production,” she said. “That fulfills the artist side of me, but the businesswoman aspect is looking at building contemporary furniture pieces for the home. In order to pay the bills, I need to make things that are contemporary and things folks really want to use in their home.” Leaf Wall Hanging Tiger Maple, Black Walnut, Purple Heart Polyurethane, Watco, Oil Pastel 55" x 20" x 1 1/4" The main focus for Teresa on any project is the design aspect. She gets many of her ideas from her daily walks with her dog. “I am inspired a lot by nature and organic forms,” she said. “I usually see the whole piece at once, and think, ‘this is the shape I want the legs, now what kind of wood can I make this out of?’ Material often dictates what you make, too, because you might have a wonderful design, but the wood says, ‘no,’ and it won’t work.” She typically models in clay or sketches the design, then drafts out dimensions and makes templates. Many of her pieces incorporate multiple species of exotic wood, although she plans to explore the use of highly-figured domestic wood and sustainable wood, like bamboo and American natives. Her favorite finish is waterlox, “which is a finish not many people know about,” she said. “It has tung oil, mineral spirits, phenolic resin and linseed oil. It really produces a nice hard durable finish, and works really well with exotic woods.” While she misses the changing seasons on the East Coast, “the nice thing about moving to California is I can work year-round with the garage door open,” she said. “It works nicer than the cold basement I had on the East Coast.” Leaf Console Black Walnut, Purple Heart, Cherry Waterlox, Watco Finish 34" x 48" x 12" Glass Top 80" Teresa spends about 35 hours per week in her workshop, which takes up half of a three-car garage. Her primary power tools include a full table saw and band saw, miter/chop saw, sander, joiner and dust collection system. “Everything is on bases,” she said. “It has to be, because the space is really kind of small.” Apart from woodworking, Teresa is also a landscape designer, designing residential landscapes and fountains. She also is interested in theology, which she studied at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles and Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. “I thought I had a calling to become a priest,” she said. “I was raised Catholic, but they don’t allow women to become priests — yet. Over time I realized that wasn’t my true calling, but I still counsel folks a lot. “That’s the thing with me, I can’t do just one thing,” she said laughing. “I have to do 12 things at once.” As for where her journey has taken her at this point in her life, she says, “It’s more important to follow your heart than it is to follow conventional wisdom. Bottom line, you have to love what you’re doing.” Teresa K. Jenkins Design www.teresakjenkins.com

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