Greenwich StoolThu Jul 19 2022
For my intro to furniture class with Amy Devers and Lauren Goodman we had to challenge ourselves. So for my final, attempted to do just that. I have always had a fascination with hardwood. I love the way it moves, its strength, its wisdom and its resistence to being
molded in particular ways. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to work with hardwood, most likely walnut and it had to be from Greg Mastors, an old friend who is a contractor and sells wood slabs on the side. Not only is it the most affordable way, it’s also the most sustainable since he only mills down trees that have already fallen due to old age or a violent storm. Throughout the wintersession I stuck to this and by the time we had to define our final project, I was ready to go. The prompt was soft utility which meant the piece had to embody an emotional or soft value in addition to its plain function. First, I measured out what I needed. Then I spoke to Greg to see what he had. Over the phone I picked out a walnut slab that was 8 board feet that came from a tree that fell in a microburst 5 years prior, about 2 miles from my childhood home. I then milled the wood down to workable pieces, planed and joined them, and then began the handwork. The mortise and tenon was the widest I had ever done by hand and took two full days to get right. I then cut out two handles and a lap joint for the side opposite to the M+T. This completed the structure. Lastly, I chiseled out the seat and sanded everything down. Following the crit, I continued to work on this piece and decided to use an angle grinder to smooth out the edges and emphasize the pieces softness. Finally, I will glue up and finish with Danish oil.