A Nod To Mid-Century Mod (Coffee Table)
Even unfinished, this slab of claro walnut crotch wood promised such a wild and complete, but dark, expression of grain and figure it would have been wrong to cut it into smaller pieces. Changing the profile, a lucky accident left from an earlier project, also would have rendered that expression inchoate; and though the 3/4" chamfering of the edges, the bull nosing of the shortest side, and hours of sanding helped to articulate its depth, the expression remained darkly quiet. A strong foil for the claro walnut is the repetitive, though not tame, figure and lighter color of the leopardwood. The stream of the more subtle and dark moradillo keeps the leopardwood from dominating this coffee table's interplay of woods and shapes.
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From the first time my first pocketknife slid through a piece of pine and I experienced the smooth surface, the pungent scent, and the flow of the grain, wood has been a source of sensual interest and pleasure for me. My interest in working with wood waxed and waned for the next few decades: I never thought of myself as needing or wanting to work wood so I never sought instruction beyond the required semester of wood shop in junior high. Those periods, however, when I found myself whittling, or carving or even just looking at or smelling a piece of wood knowledge seemed to accrue naturally through my senses. The present period began about fifteen years ago when I accepted a friend’s challenge to design for a function but refused to allow the function to dictate a form, process and product without the greatest possible sensual interest. Now, I have clients that say they can’t help but touch the work; and since I make sure that even the obscured lines of the piece are interesting, some even lie on the floor to get every possible angle of view.
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