Two pieces of furniture finished up just in the nick of time!
1) Ash crib with soap finish
2) Painted pine dresser with mulberry drawer fronts
For those of you that don’t know, @charlottefstack and I are having a baby! He’s due in a week and I AM JUST TOO EXCITED TO MEET BABY BOY STACK!!!
Just wrapped up this Western Red Cedar outdoor dining table. Inspired by Jay Van Arsdale’s sawhorse design, the table uses knockdown joinery and compliments the existing pergola by @ivycreektimberframes The scale of this table and the timber used in its construction was a welcome change of pace from my typical work. Always a joy to have a client that has clarity in what they want and also trusts your design vision. Very happy with how this one turned out!
This is a continuation of my previous post so if you haven’t checked that out, go do it now! This is a chair design I’ve built before but made a few tweaks and couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. Instead of steam bending the chair back, this time I went with a bent lamination. This helps preserve the beauty of the air dried walnut and there’s also significantly less spring back. Sneaking up on the fit took a little trial and error but the end result was worth it. The chair geometry also changed slightly to sit more comfortably. I’m way more confident in my woodworking ability than in my upholstering, but I feel pretty good with how these seats turned out. 📷 @lvepps
Photos of a recently completed dining set. Lots of fun details on this one. Beautiful unsteamed walnut from @sundriedlumber (and special thanks to @gabeaucottwoodworker for saving my ass and letting me raid his stash for a extra board). As always, photos by the super talented @lvepps
Finished these chairs a few weeks ago for a great client. It was fun incorporating designs from previous chairs into something new to fit the space (one of the many benefits of custom work 😉). Chairs are mahogany with black danish cord, 3600’ of cord to be exact! Took a full week to weave the seats but luckily I had some great podcasts to get me through. Also shoutout to @twindenimshop for the custom apron. If you’re ever in the market for one I can’t recommend them highly enough!
Working on a few more of these Clyde dining chairs in the shop today. Lots of fun joinery in these! I have a set of these @grovewoodvillage if you wanna see them in person.
With school over and still being a few weeks from moving into my new studio (more details on that coming soon!) I’ve had a lot of time to think about my future work; what I want it to look like and what I want it to say about my design philosophy and approach to craft.
I had the pleasure of visiting Curtis Buchanan’s shop a few months ago. One of the things that has really stuck with me is his advice to paint your work black. As woodworkers, we have the luxury of starting with raw material inherently full of beauty. In a lot of ways, our goal should be to not screw that up. But what Curtis is saying, and I believe is correct, is that painted furniture has only strong design to fall back on. You can immediately tell if it’s not right. The legs are too stocky. The top is too thin. You can’t hide behind the rich color or get lost in the swirling grain. It’s an approach to furniture that I hope to incorporate in my work. Not always in the final piece, but absolutely in a prototype.
Why am I writing about this while posting a coffee table with a quartersawn sycamore top that flies in the face of this advice? To be honest, this table puzzles me. I have the pleasure of using it daily, and I often wonder if I would like it as much if the grain wasn’t so eye catching. Some days it feels too busy, some days it feels just right. It’s a table I’d like to make again, use a quieter wood or maybe just paint it, and see how it feels. See if I got the proportions right on the first try (doubtful) or if I can make subtle refinements to really make it sing. Incremental progress. School is over but this whole learning business takes a lifetime. I can’t wait.
Wow what a weekend! @hccstudios 2019 grad show was a total success. It was so amazing seeing everyone’s work and journey over the past two years. If you didn’t make it this weekend the show will be at the @craftguild Folk Art Center through June 23rd.
My final project before graduation from @haywoodcommunitycollege and my favorite one to date.
Come see this and all the other beautiful work by HCC Professional Crafts graduates at the @craftguild Folk Art Center starting this Saturday and running through June 23rd 📸: @lvepps
A few things... Turned in my portfolio today which means I’m officially coasting until the grad show (unofficially I’m buried in projects but that’s my own fault 😎). @lvepps took some truly amazing photos of my work and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out.
@hccstudios will be opening their grad show at the Folk Art Center in Asheville on May 4th and it will run until June 23rd. The reception is the 4th from 3-5pm, come hang with me and all the other truly incredible artists/craftspeople graduating from the program. So thankful for the opportunity to learn my craft alongside such a talented group of individuals.
Also shout out to @eastforkpottery for letting me borrow a few things for this photo shoot! And to @atomic_furnishing for helping me find a great upholstery for my chairs!
