September Shows 2010: Concept VS. Completion Part 2...

September 2010 was a busy month. Along with a show of conceptual work at Rockhurst University, I had the good fortune of having an exhibition of furniture pieces at Gould Evans Architecture in Westport, KCMO. It was a great chance to show off some new and old work, along with photographs of processes in the workshop.

September Shows 2010: Concept VS. Completion Part 1...

Back in September 2010, I was fortunate to have two exhibition running simultaneously. The first pictured here is a group show called ART TEST curated by Sean Kelley at Rockhurst University. The show was a play on a riff following professional craft makers in midstream through process. In my case, I live amongst stacked and "stickered" wood piles that are to become furniture pieces, eventually. These playful stacks have a kind of groovy visual life of their own.

Walnut burl cocktail table: a curvy challenge...

One of my great clients asked me to come up with an adventurous design for a large cocktail table for their living room. I was fortunate to find a lovely flitch of large walnut burl for the top. I composed a nice four-way book matched pattern for the top. The pattern waterfalls over the edges. The design of the base is inspired by a lovely table by the late, great English furniture maker/designer Alan Peters. The mortise and tenon joinery became much more difficult with all of the intersecting curves!

Refreshing residential cabinetry...

In another collaboration with Davison Architecture + Urban Design, I was fortunate in 2010 to get a great residential commission building built in cabinetry for a lovely master bathroom/bedroom remodel. The most fun portion was working out the curved and coved vanity doors.

2010: Back to my woodworking roots and new working relationships.

2010 was my first year out on my own. I had several great commissions, including building the shop fixtures for two new Escapist Skateboarding locations, working in collaboration with Davison Architecture + Urban Design and 3-Axis Inc. The job was a blast and brought back fond memories of designing and building skate ramps back home in NJ when I was kiddo. Kansas City has a very vibrant skate scene, headed by the mighty Escapist crew. The culture of skateboarding is as creative and potent as ever and it's a real pleasure working with these folks.