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.
…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.
The hickory insets on the tops of these cherry tables are leftover pieces from the door I built for Cathy Poole.
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.
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.
