Sometimes it starts with a sketch.  Sometimes it starts with a phone call.  Sometimes, it starts with a board; you aren’t sure what exactly you are going to do with it, but you know that something needs to get made out of that board, and and all will not be right in the jungle until that board becomes a piece of furniture.

Such was the case with a board I found last spring.  I drove up to Smithville, Tx after answering a Craigslist ad for “EXOTIC WOOD.”  I spent the afternoon talking shop with the gentleman who listed the ad, poking through his diner-turned-lumber-room, playing with his one-eyed (or was it three-legged?) dog, and chitchatting with the neighbors, most of whom seemed happy enough drinking wine in beach chairs on the sidewalk.  Looking back now, the entire day seemed surreal.  I’m pretty sure if I ever tried to go back, I wouldn’t be able to find it, and no one would know what I was talking about.  The entire town will have vanished like The Island from “Lost.”

Anyway, I found an epic plank of teak during my search: a curl I had never seen before, and orange and green and black streaks running through the entire board.  I payed the man, thanked him (I think he was sad to see it go), drove it home, and got busy staring at it for the next four months.

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You can see more of my work, along with plenty of shop & construction pictures, on my website:
www.kelloggfurniture.com
Or follow me on Twitter: @HtownFurniture

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