One-of-a-Kind Finds

Reverting back to form, I'm going to talk about wood this month. I work with wood on a daily basis. I understand wood far better than pottery or sewing or stained glass. I'm most comfortable discussing this wonderful natural material, so that's what you're getting from me this time.

I decided to pick out a few items that are true one-of-a-kind finds. No matter how many of these a particular artist might make, no two could ever be alike due to the unique nature of the woods used in these marvelous works of art.

Ash Bowl by MaxWood Creations

I don't turn wood. I want to turn wood, but a lathe is a big investment and there are several other items ahead of it on my list. In the meantime I'll just have to drool over the beautiful turn objects at DSG, not the least of which is this bowl by MaxWood Creations. As a useful kitchen utensil it is an abject failure because it has a hole in it. As a piece of art, however, it is pure greatness of the highest order!

From MaxWood Creations: "This Ash bowl is so cool! As it was being turned, a knot was worked out creating a void in the side of the bowl. And because it was turned when the wood was still green, the wood dried after it was completed, and as a result, the bowl changed shape a little bit. So the bowl is not perfectly round. But it is striking and very unique! It would be a great focal point on a side table, on a mantle, or in a curio."

This bowl deserves to occupy a place of honor in someone's home.

Spalted Maple Jewelry Box by Welcome Woods Workshop

Jewelry boxes. I plan to build some jewelry boxes in the next year, and I'll be referring to this one for inspiration. This wonderful box features contrasting wood, visible joinery (the splines on the corners), and sturdy, simple lines that let the beauty of the wood shine.

From Welcome Woods Workshop: "A simple yet elegant hand crafted, solid maple jewelry box. It is made from Spalted maple which I hand milled myself with a small chainsaw mill and came from a large maple tree in an old churchyard here on the Sunshine Coast. The top is made from black cherry as are the splines. It is finished with a durable varnish clear coat."

This box will stand out in just about any décor, yet the design won't get in the way of your jewelry.

Elemental Slide by Holzfurhaus

Yeah... One more piece that makes me regret not owning a lathe. I love working with walnut because of the feel of the wood under my tools and the wonderful smell. I can just imagine how nice it would be to turn a bowl out of walnut.

From Holzfurhaus: "This is another bowl in the Elemental series. It is made from walnut, with a sanded natural edge to make it a lilttle more intersesting. It has deep dark shades of walnut color. This is an ornamental piece not intended for food or liquid."

This bowl should be in my library right now. I know just the place for it...

Mantle Clock by Marko Wood Designs

Tim Marko is a friend of mine. He live a few miles away from me, and I plan to spend some time in his shop stealing every secret the man has about finishing wood. The clock you see above has some wonderful design elements -- visible joinery, through tenons, the spalted cottonwood face -- but the true beauty of a Tim Marko piece is how well he finishes the wood. He has a very specific go-to formula he uses, but I think the real trademark is in the loving care he pours into every square inch.

Tim Marko says: "This clock is made from ash and spalted cottonwood. It uses a quartz chime movement that plays on the quarter hour and counts the hour. It has a natural finish."

Jagged Maple Burl Vessel by Natural Selection Studio

This bowl/vase/upside-down cone is turned from a piece of maple burl, a misshapen, malformed bit of a maple tree that woodworkers prize for it's beauty. And that beauty has been enhanced here by the gouge and the lathe, imposing a mostly symmetrical form upon a natural mistake. The results speak for themselves. And the real genius of this design is leaving the natural "wild" edge at the rim.

Natural Selection Studio says: "This wonderful vessel is overflowing with interesting color and figure. It measures 5-3/4" tall by 4-1/2" wide at the rim. Need a focal point in your decor? This is it! Finished with walnut oil."

And it would make a fine focal point indeed!

I trust this little tour through the wooded regions of Design Style Guide has given you some design ideas of your own. Check out the other offerings from all our woodworkers. You won't be disappointed.

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If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below. Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.

If you like this blog entry you'll love my blog, jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks. Check it out. I'll be glad you did.

I'm Inspired By...

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a bit for Margaret Hamilton's blog in which I talked about some of my family members who inspire me. This week I'd like to talk about some members of this team, Design Style Guide, who inspire me. And no, they aren't all woodworkers.

I'm inspired by Pat Parker. Her pottery is so kinetic, controlled chaos, a genie emerging from a just fired bottle. She utilizes just enough pattern to make it real art, and leaves the rest to develop as it will. Her work is beautiful and bright and exciting. This is something I strive for in my woodworking.

I'm inspired by Suz and Mark Vainner. Their "Turnadaisy" design is simple, elegant, highly useful, and makes me wish I'd thought of it first. I can build a Lazy Susan. I have the hardware sitting in my shop right now to do just that, but the design has to be just right. I am inspired by the Turnadaisy because it's such a great design, and because I want to design something just as useful, yet very different than these wonderful Lazy Susans.

I'm inspired by Liz Ballard. She basically taught herself to paint, and look at the results! Her work is full of energy and color. It makes me smile to see her paintings and I know I'm not alone. I have tried my hand at painting in the past. I never had the patience for it, which is strange, considering how long it takes to build a bookcase or a television console. This is the same energy I see in Pat Parker's pottery, the same energy I want to pour into everything I build.

I'm inspired by Alexandra Snook and Edward Way. They build items with wood, just as I do. The objects they build are very different than the ones I sell, but we're doing the same sort of work. It is inspiring to me to see how they take a piece of wood, pour their own brand of personality and creativity into it, and it looks like no one else's work when they finish, no pun intended. That's what I try to do as well, and I'm happy to share the territory here at Design Style Guide with these wonderfully gifted woodworkers.

If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below.

Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.

If you like this blog entry you'll love my blog, jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks. Check it out. I'll be glad you did.

The Many Faces of Wood

I'm a woodworker. Yeah, I used to be a professional graphic artist. Before that I worked on a magazine, worked for a print shop, worked for a department store... and I played drums back in the '80s in a progressive metal band, a power trio called Loremaster. But I'm a woodworker now, and I like it.

I get to create useful, artistic designs, see them come to life in front of my eyes, and then people pay me money for my creations. How amazing is that? As a graphic designer, more often than not, I had to make everything exactly the way the (usually) non-artistic client thought it should be, even when he hired me for my artistic abilities in the first place. Now I get to design first and sell later, and the headaches are just gone, like your insurance agent after a big storm!

But this isn't about me. This is about artistic expression using the work of three other artists, all woodworkers and all members of Design Style Guide, as examples.

Woodworking is both a craft and an art. At least it can be both. I suppose anybody with a saw and a nail gun could slap together a garden bench or a shelf, but it takes an artist to make it look like, well... art.  For example:

This beautiful chair and ottoman were built by Shabby Santa Fe. On the surface the actual construction might appear simple. I have never built anything like this, though, and it will probably be some time before I attempt such a venture. Peeling the bark, cutting round mortise and tenon joints, leaving all the bends and twists in the finished product, these are foreign concepts to me. I love the results, but the way I work in my shop is very different than this.

You really can't argue with the flair and appeal of these wonderful pieces. I figure anybody could nail together a bunch of branches with the bark removed and call it a chair. When you look at a chair from Shabby Santa Fe you see the art and the craft of furniture making. This is what woodworkers strive for: That perfect balance. I aim for the same thing whether I'm building a lectern or a candle holder. I just have to make sure all my parts are perfectly straight before I put them together. The chair and ottoman you see above, there were no such constraints placed on their construction. Sometimes it amazes me how differently one artist works as compared to another.

This photo frame from SecondLine Frames, like all their frames, is "built from authentic wood siding salvaged from homes destroyed during Hurricane Katrina." On the crafty side of things, the construction could be fairly straightforward: You get some wood, you make a few cuts, you knock together a frame. Great. What sets these frames apart from the norm, however, is the artistry that goes into them. The right wood, the right ratio of old paint to exposed wood, the proper size, how much wood to show without distracting from the photograph displayed in the frame. All these considerations, and probably a lot more, go into the planning and building of these beautiful frames, even if they aren't on a conscious level.

You can see the difference between the first frame and this one, of course. Do you like one more than the other? My preference is for the first one, but you may disagree. As designers of furniture and accessories for the home we have to take into consideration that one design may not appeal to everyone. We come up with several versions and let the customers pick what they want. Someone else will always come along to take the rest. That's a reversal from the way I had to work as a graphic artist.

Moving along, let's take a look at this beautiful cabinet from Jeff Builds Furniture. It's a cupboard designed to hold towels and bedding, or it can be used as a pantry. This is certainly not something that existed in the past, but cabinets like this seem to be catching on, rather like the "bathroom cupboards" that have become popular in the last few years. I like it because it is functional art, the sort of thing I'm driven to create in my own shop.

This design is simple, rustic, elegant, useful and beautiful. It took skill to build it, but it took the eye of the artist to envision it's lines and proportions.

Designs like this don't create themselves. Artists get ideas, glimpses of something great, and they strive to bring those ideas to life. I do this every day in my shop. Someday I will build something as cool as the pieces you see here.

If you make Handmade Home Decor Items, come and join our team by clicking on the image below.

Not only will you be able to network with us, but also you will have the ability to post your listing on our team website.

If you like this blog entry you'll love my blog, jn3 Hand Crafted Woodworks. Check it out. I'll be glad you did.