A woman brings me a pile of wood she has had for 30 years. She asked me to make her SOMETHING from it. Since I sold my first coffee table in 1976 I have never had so much artistic freedom. She had no idea what she wanted. I endevored to get to know her. She struck me as a business person, she is an instructor in a college here in the USA and previously in Australia where she got the wood. She is a writer. At first the biggest constraint on my artistic freedom was the length of her lumber. The longest 4/4 was 61″. I thought about design for a few months and while working on another client’s project, a trestle table with bread board ends I walked past the cart with her short lumber. This brought about first design decision. With bread board ends I could increase length of project unknown. She was a writer; writers need to have a DESK! The wood has a lot if figure so the next design choice was to bring in an art deco feel; the grain figure seemed to fit art deco. I have played around with Rulmann styled legs in the past and felt they had an art deco flavor. Now the woman was a business person and I pictured her in a business skirt with a small black belt at the waist and a simple straight bottom hem, very formal and business like. This seemed to work well with the bulge on the Rulmann leg hence the revel line around the desk is the woman’s belt the pleasant bulge on legs and panels her hips and the simple line at the bottom of the case her classic hemline. To finish the design I gave her desk gentle sweeping feminine legs extending to the floor. My client loves it and it is a pleasure to work for people who show their appreciation by supporting us woodworkers who have the privilege to do what we love.

Launch Gallery