Wood Stories
Autumn 2024
I’ve been designing and building furniture here in Michigan for 10 years now. Throughout that time, work has been steady and always with great, challenging commissions. I can’t believe my good fortune. However, whenever the end is in sight – say my last piece is 2 months from completion – I go into a panic thinking that this will be my last contract, and that I will have to go out and get a real job.
What I Did on my Summer Vacation
That was the situation I found myself in last Spring, so I agreed to teach a summer course at the Brightmoor Maker Space (see Wood Stories Spring 2024). Of course, as soon as I agreed to this, three major commissions came in.
I decided to teach the Introduction to Furniture Making course that I taught in the UK. Within this little bedside table are all the major techniques required for western furniture making. All my kids completed their bedside table to a very good standard, and there is no greater joy for a teacher than seeing their 'too-cool' students unable to conceal their excitement in a job well done. I’ve agreed to teach my Design Thinking course to these kids after school this year.
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…but my own work continues. Here is some of my recent work along with some construction shots:
Izzy McKay's Crane Dining Table
Izzy is a mad-keen birder and wanted a dining table with sandhill cranes as its theme.
Chinese Coffee Table and Side Table
Dave Denaci and I have been best friends since first grade. After 62 years, he finally got round to asking me to build him some furniture.
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The hickory insets on the tops of these cherry tables are leftover pieces from the door I built for Cathy Poole.
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These should go well with the dragons, buddhas, and Chinese prints that fill his home.
A Coffee Table for Steve Pennington
Another old friend - this time from high school. Steve has had these bits of cypress in his garage for nearly 50 years and asked me to build him a coffee table. There was actually very little I had to do besides sand an polish it. The beautiful figure in that wood does all the heavy lifting.
A Moveable Writing Desk
Furniture was originally intended to be moved about. Mobilia in Italian, möbel in German, and möbler in Swedish all refer to the portable nature of domestic furnishings. A Tansu in Japan is basically a chest of drawers with handles on it.
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This is an adaptation of a writing desk I designed previously. Both serve two purposes. This one will live behind a sofa, but then easily moved to look out of a large picture window for inspired writing.
