Of course what brings us all to this site is our love of stones, but another common thread we have is that we are all craftsman/artisans to one degree or another. And I'm sure that all of you appreciate fine works of craftsmanship in all things just as I do. So in that vein I would like to share my Dads work. I have shared my Dads woodworking skills in the past but I think its time to show off some of what he is doing lately since he never ceases to amaze me.
He started woodworking as a hobby about 15 years ago. Started with basic furniture and continued to hone his skills. It was when he started making rocking chairs that his true craftsmanship and skill reared its head. His chairs are reminiscent of the work done by the late Sam Maloof (who my Dad had the good fortune to meet a few years before he died). However my Dad has made many design and style changes along the way and really made these chairs his own thing. He has built somewhere close to 30 rocking chairs now and there are always about 5 or 6 in various stages of progress underway at any given time.
He started out building basic rockers out of common woods. Walnut, maple, etc. These were a couple early ones...
Soon he started trying out more exotic woods. This one is 'purple heart'. Keep in mind, my Dad uses no stains in his woodworking. All woods you see are finished to their natural colors. His motto is "You can't improve on what Mother Nature can do."
The realization was not far behind that mixing different woods in a single chair could be a lot of fun. This one combined purple heart and something else (maybe cherry?).
But a few years ago he wowed everyone when he turned out his first patchwork chair. Remember, there are no stains here. All woods are their natural colors.
He has since done a couple of these patchwork chairs, and right now is in the process of building two more (one for my sister and one for my step-sister). Here are the seats for those two as of last weekend.
But it didn't end at the patchwork patterns. My Dad is constantly dreaming up new ideas and this year he has wowed us all again. Right now he has two chairs under construction with plaid pattern woodwork seats. Thats right....I said
plaid and
woodwork together!
Here is plaid chair number one under construction. The headboard he just clamped on to show me how it looks. The frame is zebra wood and is one of the only woods with a lively enough grain to compete with the pattern of the seat. This chair is going to be off the charts when finished!
This is the other plaid chair under construction. This one has a very dark wood frame. The name of the wood escapes me at the moment, but he has done an entire chair from this dark wood.
Of course he hasn't stopped at plaid. Next thing I heard was talk of a 'hounds tooth' pattern. I thought "There ain't no way! This is getting ridiculous!!" But yes, there IS a way..and my Dad is always the one to find it! Here is the latest experiment for a seat. There is something like 1300 individual pieces of wood in this seat!
And so it goes on. I am always waiting to see what he does next. Just when I think he can't stun me he does it again. But thats not to say that all he does are crazy patterns these days. He still builds traditional chairs. He is just putting the finishing touches on one that he is giving to me. I am sorry to say that once again the name of the wood has escaped me (I should remember since this is to be my chair) but it is a stunningly beautiful wood that comes from somewhere overseas. I think the name starts with a "B". I'll share the name when I remember.
So thats a little tour through my Dads hobby. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoy bragging about him.
