Ross Thompson

Name, Major, Year? James McNabb, fourth year Woodworking and Furniture Design major.

How did you get into that? Well, I kind of struggled in high school with my academics but strived in the arts; so I took a lot of woodshop and a lot of art classes. That led me here, mostly because of the facilities. This is my last year here, so I’ve been here for a while, doing this.

Are you in the workshop a lot? It’s a pretty demanding program. It takes up a lot of time, but you get a lot out of it, because there’s a physical reward at the end. You get a finished piece that you can have forever.

Do you ever give any of the pieces away? Yeah, I’ve kind of given a lot of my student work away. I’m doing a couple small commissions. I’m designing a couple of products that I’d like to start getting manufactured, which would be interesting. I’m making these iPod accessories.

iPod accessories? I’m making these iPod pedestals. They have the cord running through them, and it kind of just presents your iPod. But I’m doing a couple of those, and I’m just trying to finish up as much as I can before I graduate.

What would you like to do after RIT? I’m going to try to apply to a couple of different places: either a production shop where they’re building furniture, or a design firm where they’re designing. And it’s not limited to furniture. I want to be involved in new ways of thinking and innovative ideas. I just want to be surrounded by creative people and new ways of thinking about things.

I see you’re wearing headphones. What sort of music do you listen to? I like to try out everything. I kind of like to say that I’d listen to anything once.

Even rap and country? Oh, yeah. And a lot of hip-hop.

Do you have a favorite artist? No, not right now. I’m listening to a lot of things. I’m trying not to restrict myself to any one genre. It’s too hard to narrow it down like that.