Simply made. Deeply felt.

My brother Dave was a carpenter. Most of his work was framing houses. It was hard, repetitive, and muscle-aching work, but he enjoyed it. He also made birdhouses, crosses, and cutting boards. Sometimes, he sold these at local craft fairs. He loved seeing the joy on a customer’s face. This was something a house framer would never hear from a homeowner. The quick customer reactions brought him happiness. It gave him a sense of joy and purpose he never found while hanging roofs. He wanted to create more, but framing houses paid the bills.

As he felt the twinges of age, he saw that general carpentry was more suited for young guys. He still loved making things, but not at the scale of houses or renovations. He wanted to return to small, bench-top items that brought him and his customers joy. Dave was a skilled carpenter, but he wasn’t up-to-date with the new media landscape. He needed help refining his story and product style. That’s where I came in—his brother Jeff. While Dave built houses, I was in art school studying art and graphic design. I spent my career building brand identities, logos, and other designs. Like Dave, I loved making things, but I created with pencil, paper, clay, and found objects.

So, we decided to team up, and MckayMckay was born. We talked about our goals and what we needed to set up shop. After some basic planning, we were off. I set up the business entity, created marketing materials, and built the website. I also started developing ideas to expand his designs. Meanwhile, Dave began making the items he knew how to create. He also experimented with his own ideas. He valued handcrafting, but we got a CNC router for large-scale customization. We were on our way to making our dream a reality.

Then, Dave faced health problems. He sought medical help and seemed to be on the mend. It was serious but manageable, requiring us to pause for a month while he recuperated. But fate had other plans. After the procedure, complications arose, and despite the hospital's efforts, he passed away.

I was heartbroken. It was a shock. “Broken” captures it better.

All our plans and joyful anticipation vanished. It threw me for a loop. For the first time, I had no plan or idea of how to move forward. The grief was overwhelming, especially since his death was so unexpected. It happened as we were about to launch our collaboration.

What should I do now? Abandon the business and the idea? Retreat into my own efforts? That would help ease the pain of what could have been.

It took time, reflection, and support from some good friends to figure out my next steps.

I decided that making our efforts meaningful was the best choice. I needed to move forward. The collaboration was still alive. There were still two Mckays. His ideas and energy were with me. The things he made mattered to him. Abandoning that would mean abandoning his life, progress, and spirit.

I made a few things on this website, but everything in this special collection, Dave made. With his experienced hands, open heart and deep faith.

And when you pick one these objects up, you sense it. Rough, honest. It makes no attempt to hide the imperfect humanity we all possess.

He was a good dude who wanted to make good things for good people to enjoy.

Although these items are for sale, the money was secondary to us. Our hope is that someone finds these useful. Dave loved making things that served a purpose. That’s what my brother was about—finding a way to serve the world and live a life of meaning.

On behalf of Dave, thank you for reading this and taking a look.

Cheers.