New Offerings

Here's a few new items I'll be offering at the Geauga Farmers Market and upcoming craft fairs.
A few new cutting boards, serving trays, some artful coasters, keepsake boxes and some flower vases.

The Inspiration of Wood : first of two posts

The Inspiration of Wood

      This furniture project was brought to me with complete creative freedom. A rare situation to say the least and valuable to me in that it reminds me what I consider important in design.
      Creating a visual melody using line and form. Restraining and planning that use to accentuate the nature of the wood and complement the function of the furniture.
     

       The body of this end table is black walnut and the top and shelf are quarter sawn red oak. The drawer sides which are dovetailed into the front are composed of strips of poplar and honey locust and were laminated into a wave pattern. Adding some fun to the piece are to hidden compartments. The larger of the two is hidden behind the main drawer and is accessed by pulling on an attached rod when the main drawer is removed. The other is hidden beneath the shelf and slides in and out of place on rails.

10,000 Years in the Making

This project was brought to me along with this story:
On a property near Mantua , Ohio a man had started harvesting peat from a bog. While doing so he had unearthed logs he knew were something special. This was soon confirmed by a neighbor of his. This neighbor also had a peat bog on his property which he also was harvesting and had also found logs in. However, this neighbor had decided to take a sample of one log to nearby Kent State University to get carbon dated. Turns out it is from a Tamarack tree and it was dated at 10,000 years old. So by association he assumed his logs must be roughly the same age as his neighbor's.
        He decided to mill up his logs and begin making furniture from from them. He was an older gentleman and he passed on before completing all the furniture he had started.
         My client , as a friend of this man's family aquired some pieces of this unfinished furniture, which many

years later made there way to my hands.
          This was an interesting project to say the least. The challenge was to work the pieces so as to take advantage of the existing forms ; completing and accentuating them , while also showcasing the character and color of this ancient material.
           To contrast and highlight the Tamarack I used a highly figured quartersawn red oak for the table tops. The finish is clear urethane so as not to hide any of the fantastic natural colors.