A Place in the Sun

With the first class at Rollinsford over, I am over the moon with excitement. Teaching and spending time in the environment exceeded all my hopes and expectations. The smaller class has inspired me to cap my classes at 4 students, both for the best use of the space, but also for the pure joy of the calm pace and enjoyment that comes with having a small group. I'm going to bombard you with some photos of the class, try to keep in mind that we could hear the waterfall right outside the windows as we worked!

There is still one space available for the October Continuous Arm class, check the site for details. I am also making up the schedule for next years workshops, so please let me know what you would like to see on there.

The morning sun provides enough light for working until about 11

Another view of the morning light

Day one splitting out the parts

These two had loads of focus

Three glue ups, no big deal

The obligatory class shot. I painted the one in the middle as a sample using Real Milk Paint's Sapphire, a new fav for sure

And the pups celebrated the end of class too

New Sights

Last week, I had the pleasure of accompanying Stephanie to Pennsylvania for a few days. The reason for the trip was to visit the DuPont Gardens at Longwood, but we also made it down to Winterthur to see some wonderful chairs.

The Main dining room at Winterthur

Nope, not these, although they were worthy of my attention for the entire time we were in the room. I just thought it might be of interest to see how the other half lives. Other half of what I'm not sure.

I deeply regret not having my good camera with me, but what follows are a few of my favorite sights in the hall of Windsors that I saw.

The staff was kind enough to give me a private tour of this room, it helps to ask. Much of the treat is the scale of the parts and the patina. It's so fascinating to see the thinness of the parts and the shapes.

A dramatic stance!

A stunning color

This seat was a favorite

The thin size of the parts on this birdcage are astounding in person

This triple back is a real eye catcher

When your name is DuPont you can have two

Pie Crust Table

I know that this last image isn't the usual topic here, but it really caught my eye and has occupied my thoughts. While done in what is clearly a masterful way, the subtle marks near the edge of the flat area clearly show the undulations of the hand of the maker. It definitely made me think about how our modern sensibilities expect a machined level of perfection on all surfaces and if I was to see a drawing of this table, I would expect that those marks wouldn't be there. I wonder how the maker and owner of this piece thought about this in their time. I am certainly aware of hand tool marks being prized on some modern work, such as chairs, for their proof of the presence of the hand of the maker, but I can 't help but wonder what it was like when the maker was obvious simply by the existence of the piece.

A week from today is the first class that I'll host in my Rollinsford NH school, there is still space to join me to make a fan back or balloon back. I am excited to get the ball rolling!

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Sexy Pics, heading your way

I have just about hit my threshold for the computer and photography, but before I leave, I want to share some new pictures with you. I've taken over the living room and set up my lights and back drop to get these. I posted them on my "under construction" chairs page on the new site. If you hover the cursor over the pictures, they pause

Here is the most recent rocker

I do think that taking the time to light and photograph work can help inform me when it comes to my goals and whether I'm achieving them. Plus, it allows me to stumble across unintended shapes and views that either need attention or have succeeded. Please take the time to subscribe below and check out my Fall 2017 courses!