portfolio pictures

 

well, ok ... i stumbled across a folder full of pictures this morning and 

i thought they would make a good blog post.  as an example, on the 'page' above, there is a 

10' cherry table, 8 windsors, 4 stools and a nine foot wide by 8 foot high sideboard.  couple of months right there.  also, a pair of maple cabinets with c.r. ashbee inspired  inlays and a 60" round table ...

another couple of months there.

until 2007, when i first started my blog and more or less moved my 'portfolio' online,

i kept photos of my work in these three 20 page, 14" x 17"  binders.  in august of 2014, i intended to migrate these portfolios into my slide show area by taking careful photos of each page but never finished the job or ever finished taking the photos .. looking through them this morning made

me realize i maybe ought to get on it and finish that project ... maybe next week ...

anyway, here they are .. click the photos to enlarge them ... 

honestly, i forgot i made a lot of these pieces ...

 

a desk, a credenza and a coffee table, and the inspiration for the 

c.r. ashbee arts and crafts style pieces pieces

a couple desks, a small dining table, a really funky windsor and some stools ..

a nice game table .. another desk some side tables and a japanese rice paper screen ..

the famous 'snook table' .. 46 x 68 and 

at the beach' a small half round with similar inlays .. i still have that one ..

a coffee table, a cabinet with a curved front, a 54" round cherry table with a lacewood inlay, 

a cherry and lacewood coffee table, a reclaimed chestnut table and a funky sideboard piece.

lots more stuff here

and here .. the bubinga sideboard goes with the 

one board bubinga table on the 'page' below ..

a nice 'studio style' sideboard and an 8' knife display case

some nice doors; an interesting masonic table restoration and a classy 

cherry and figured ash desk with some rosewood inlays

a cherry corner cupboard with curly maple panels and drawer fronts ..

 

skippy, our dog, who left us in 2006 .. a nice cherry and maple dresser ..

another big sideboard, one of a pair, and a nice curly maple dining table

my favorite curly maple sideboard and a cool bench and mirror with carvings and appliques ..

a few more 'studio style' pieces

 

more to come as the project evolves .. good start.

   just found some more ...

my, my, my ... lots of pictures ... the tapered cabinet made the back cover of one of 

the fine woodworking design books ... must have been around 1990

 game tables ..

 wildlife carving on the table legs ...

 early headboard inlays

 ditto ...

 metal chairs .. a black console ...

more game tables

 first cabinet with abalone center right .. 1985??

 'shaker' hutch

 early 80s brochure cover ..

 2nd commisssion .. 1979 .. the yellow shaker desk ..

'japanese style' coffee table .. studio style table and sideboard

glass topped coffee table ...

 'greene and greene' style chairs with handpainted silk seats

the original tansu stairs photos .. before and after .. 1989

a crotch mahogany veneered sideboard .. notice the difference and professional photographer can make ..

"it's where we keep the tv to keep it out of sight"

some detail shots ...  the studios .. central park west .. barely fit in the elevator ..

 i used to make a lot of ornamental sash

 the original mother myricks .. 1983, manchester center ... 

3 instagrams from the dcf shop

 after some urging from will, sam and i are now posting to instagram too ... 

lots of banjo videos on will's page ... 

lots of photos from us and thousands of other folks too ... 

a 60" round walnut table with 3 leaves

we've got a new version of out 'mid century modern' round expanding table heading for chicago next week.  we made the first table of this design a few years ago ...

this one is natural finish, with matched walnut from our friends at irion lumber ...

moveable base, with 3 - 15 x 60" leaves

the cad drawing

the base halves ...

and a view of the table upside down ...
another fun project with a new designer client ..
we hope to do more work with her in the future ...

new claro walnut slabs for sale

 well, surprisingly, we had a little cash left over at the end of 2015, and an opportunity came 

along that was too good to pass up ... four interesting new coffee table/desk/countertop slabs ...

we are totally open to your input and ideas ...

 back side of #21 ... 5/4 (finish at +/- 1.25") thick

 another thinner slab

 8/4 i believe .. interesting crotch and crack pattern

would make a great anything

pretty rectangular, which is unusual around here ..

for inspiration, check out this slide show of other claro walnut projects we have done ...

and so, it begins with the daffodils

first bunch of daffodils open on the dining room table ...54 days to spring in vermont ... 

according to the weatherman, yesterday was the last day the 

sun set before 5:00 ... the days are getting longer ..

and ms. pileated was on the suet in the sun this morning ... 

the foxes are yipping ...

restoration? ... repair? ... thoughts on time passing

well, this one was around for a looong time.  i mostly finished it up yesterday.  the oldest of the photos below are dated 7/10/13.  seriously.  we made a table for these folks in the spring of that year, and a few months later the husband dropped this table off, and told me 'no rush'.  big mistake.  let me just say kindly, that it was not in the best of shape ... click the photos to enlarge them ...

i have no idea why i didn't follow through and fix this one right off, except that i knew it would take a really long time to get it back to useful ... the main problem, (i speculate), was that the table was stored somewhere that was very damp, and the veneer on the bottom of the top came loose, allowing more moisture in.  while i can't find a picture, i definitely remember that the top was dry and cupped about 3/4 of an inch across the 18" width of it ...

so, out came the skilsaw, and i made some not quite all the way through skilsaw cuts about an inch and a half apart until i could very easily flatten it with a couple clamps and a straight edge.

at that point i put the top in the veneer bag with the original bottom veneer (you can see it in the background there) glued on to it .. that flattened it out and that's when i dropped the ball, likely intimidated by the anticipated time and risk involved in repairing the missing veneer.

so then recently, (the clients have commissioned another table), i went on to the patching, trying to find a piece of 'new growth' walnut that matched the grain of the apparently 'old growth' walnut of the original veneer.  since we had no idea of the table's origin, (italian? french?) i'm not even exactly sure what kind of walnut veneer the original veneer really is. the photo aggravates the color and grain match, and it is actually a little better and less obvious, (but obviously still obvious), in natural light.

as i was finishing up, there conveniently appeared a relevant article in the new yorker entitled ' The Custodians'.  i have taken the liberty of posting two excerpts from ben lerner's thoughful article below.  well researched, well thought out, and totally thought provoking.  a wonderful read for people like me who occasionally are called on to to rescue the old stuff. 

The Custodians

How the Whitney is transforming the art of museum conservation.

'lacunae' ... gaps .. missing pieces.  'coeval' .. living at the same time.

enjoy!