The Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers Blog

Ok all you woodworker readers ... here comes something new. The Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers is in the process of launching a blog. There are 29 members and we'll all get our own day to write a post so there (hopefully) will be some new content every day. It will take a minute to get it under way but once we get the hang of it, it should be pretty interesting. you can check out their blog here now and if there isn't much up yet, sign up for the rss feed and actually watch it as it happens ... 29 furnituremakers, 29 styles, 29 viewpoints, tips and techniques ... look out Fine Woodworking ....

helen day arts center show

we'll be showing, along with other members of the guild of vermont furniture makers, at the helen day art center in a show that opens on the 18th of january, and runs through the 14th of april.  we'll have 6 of our ladderback chairs  below, with the table above.  stowe is a powerful tourist/ski area in northern vermont, and we already have some new, and old, customers in that area.  it should be a good show. click the photos to enlarge them ...

the chairs are ready to go ... 

 update 1/13

 

i dropped off our table and chairs at helen day yesterday and went to meet with one of my new stowe clients to make a template for a spark screen that sam will be making for an outdoor firepit at their home there.

i had to dig for a little bit to uncover it, but i think i got it ...

and i also got to see the house in its finished form, including the cushion on the curved, fitted bench we made at the top of the three story circular stairway..

we also previously made a hanging swing, which was fun, and a couple of other tables, including the main dining table
 
and in other news, (back to thhe january 4, post) the table below, another in our niche of big claro walnut slab tables, will be leaving for dallas, texas next week sometime.  it's a great looking slab with nice grain and a powerful presence.

 

 

it had an interesting flaw that went completely through the slab and was about 3/4 of an inch wide at its widest point once the loose bark inclusion fell out. 

 

we filled it with our usual stuff and added a little color with some oil soluble aniline dyes from lockwood.

all good ... ready for the legs and the finish

maybelle approves !

Animal Rhythms

'Animal Rhythms' floor stand mockup

This coming weekend (September 28th and 29th) is the annual Vermont Fine Furniture and Woodworking Show at the Woodstock High School. This year, in conjunction with the show there will be a furniture design contest at the Forest Festival Weekend at the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National Historic Site in Woodstock. The high school will showcase work by individual Vermont furnituremakers as well as a group Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers booth. There will also be demonsrations and talks by some of the guild members, myself included. I'll be talking about the value of adding personalized inlay to your furniture. I will be exhibiting furniture and a portfolio at the Guild booth as well as at the Design Contest at the Marsh Billings Center. I have enetered one of my lounge chairs and also a sculpture I recently made, 'Animal Rhythms' in the design contest.

Four views ... sunlight and shadows moving. The pieces also swivel on their respective wall brackets.

The sculpture is something I created for Open Studio weekend in May after staring at the unpainted pieces in my office for quite a while. People seem to like it and, while this is the original version, I have made a smaller bedroom size copy for a New York client and recently received an order for an outdoor version in painted steel ... I'll be showing it as a floor mounted piece at the show ... the Guild booth is shown below

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Click to enlarge ... The wood burnings on the back wall are also mine

One of my lounge chairs

I've sold a bunch of these chairs and have them scatered throughout my office and home. I find them the perfect reading, lounging, meeting and napping and beer drinking chair. We make a solid mahogany version as well as a less expensive composite version.