Good Times at the Rodeo!

 

Yeeeee ha!  Here are some pictures.  Great idea B.A. !  Happy Birthday!

Lakeside Rodeo… Awesome.

Dad sent a page from the WSJ

I thought this was really funny because I was looking at Ruhlmann when I was designing the Lingerie Chest.  Thanks Dad!  The article on Ruhlmann talks about a new book that has just come out on him.  He is one of my favorite designers.  He was designing these pieces in the beginning of the 20th century, “a time when furniture makers were kings.”

Here’s a link to that article pictured below:  All Hands on Art Deco

 

The Ruhlmann’s black liquor cabinet with the wood burl doors at the top of the page next to the picture of his face sold for $2.1 million at a recent auction according to the article.  Whoa.

On the other side of the page was a blurb on what was going to be at the Milan Furniture Fair--very designer-y.   Here’s a link to that article:  The Furniture Frontline

Better Pictures

Here are pictures of some of the work in the show.

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Not A Hack Table

English sycamore, jatoba, cherry, Spanish cedar, bog oak, leather

18” x 18” x 29”

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Disclosure

Acrylic sheet, ear plugs,

2” x 4” x 11”

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Shelter

Acrylic sheet, brass, hardware

15” x 11” x 21”

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Lingerie Chest

Acrylic sheet, poplar, milk paint, wood shavings, ribbon

60” x 28” x 16”

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Gift

Bamboo plywood, steel, magnets

5” x 5” x 5”

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Karesansui Table (Dry Landscape)

Concrete, poplar

38” x 14” x 40”

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More on Amplification

For this first attempt, I tried to keep it simple.  The original idea was to make a 2D surface look 3D in some way by adding a particular pattern to the surface.  I had some high density foam around from a previous project that I could use to try some ideas on.  Here’s the first attempt:

This was derivative of the clock that I am using as the inspiration for this Amplification project.  Here’s the clock I made earlier.

I was thinking of trying to get this above pattern to go all the way around the simple form of a blanket chest, but seeing it larger in the foam wasn’t really doing it for me.  I think that the shape of the furniture should relate to the pattern more explicitly.  For me, the rectilinear shape of a blanket chest would kill the pattern.  Perhaps if the furniture had curves and the pattern accentuated those curves, it would be more successful.

Thinking about a more traditional approach to patterns on case pieces especially veneer patterns, I decided to instead try working with a grid.  Also, considering the way a perspective view works using the CAD software I use, the object’s relationship to the grid is what helps it look three-dimensional.  I did a couple samples in the foam first using diamonds,

and then using squares.

I preferred the look of the squares then the diamonds, but then came the issue of the corner.  How do I get the corners to come together in a tidy fashion?  I talked to Matt about this issue, and together we figured that perhaps I should try getting the shape of the cabinet and the shape of the curving surface that the grid was going to be arrayed on to relate to each other. This is how I got the corners to work out:

The grid was arrayed on the red curve and then "projected” onto the flat surface. 
I made a cardboard mock up to make sure the size was what I wanted.  I'm glad I did this because I tweaked the measurements a touch before I cut a single piece of wood.

After turning a couple of 8/4 ash boards into veneers on top of plywood, I set up some simple tool paths with the CNC router, and voilà!  I was also thinking of making it look more explicitly like a checker board with paint.  I rendered the blanket chest to see what it might look like.

But after it was cut out, I liked the wood grain so much (amongst other reasons) that I decided to leave it as is--without paint.  But looking at how the real thing turned out and the rendered picture looks now side-by-side, perhaps I should look into using paint…

For a first attempt, I am very pleased with the outcome.  I learned a lot too.  Now for a case piece, maybe with curves….

Show’s up!

Here’s what it looks like.  Thanks everyone for the help!

I have a show soon

 I have lots I want to share, but I am working my tail off to get my show together.  More will come soon, until then here is my show card.  Hope to see you all there!