in a recent post, i wrote about refinishing a table i built 21 years ago in a style i am still working in today, and in fact, started working on in 1986. ill give jasper johns some credit for that as i often use his quote in the title above when talking about a design language. my introduction to my style was by complete accident in 1986. a client/friend who had been living in germany for a few years described this desk she wanted me to build for her based on some furniture she had been living with during those years abroad. i kind got what she was describing and made her desk, as she described it to me. click the photos to enlarge them ...
there it is, in the upper right hand corner, mahogany and black paint with brass hardware. my wife and i both liked the style and since our house at the time was more or less devoid of nice furniture, i decided i would participate in a show at a local gallery and whatever didnt sell (hah !), we would bring home for the dining room. well, we know how that goes, and i have had this lovely furniture in my own home for 25 years now. this was before the internet and before my book collection had grown to include anything regarding the biedermeier style. the desk above we liked, but was too formal for us so we used native natural cherry with the black paint instead of the stained mahogany. presto ... studio style ....
thats our table and chairs in the upper left corner above and our sideboard in the top left corner of the top photo. so, what am i trying to say here?. this is a post i have been trying to write for a while about, really, how did i get here? we actually did two custom studio style dining rooms last year, this one, and this one so on we go with it ...
so, here we are ... take an object, or a design, or a combination of woods or colors and try to imagine how they could be different, or similar but different; change a little here; change a little there; change a lot, but keep some stuff; keep at it; keep reading and looking; keep an open mind and keep changing ... when you look back 30 some years later youll indeed wonder how did i get here? , but youll be pleased that your designs hang together from the same thread or threads that run through all of it ...
you can add some inlays ... here we have a studio style half round with abalone inlays, which led to some bed headboards with abalone inlays, and we know where that went, which was on to one of our most involved and challenging pieces. more on the wood and metal style in a future post.
wood and steel tables ... the bethlehem steel series.
this time last year, we had about 20 inches on the ground and were bracing for what the weather man promised would be a big one. this year, no snow ... this is my 41st winter in vermont, and while i remember others with not much snow, or with snow on the ground for only part of the winter, i 
the view of stratton from big bromley, about 10 miles or so to the south.
above is my backyard last sunday, and it still looks the same today. flakeless ...
the mosses are fascinating though ...
theres a little ice on the pond that comes and goes, but the strange thing is that most winters it
not a flake in front of the shop door ...
and not a snowdrift in the parking lot. it made me think about the new metalshop that is in the wish/plan/finance/early permit/estimate phase ... might happen; might not .. well see ...
early design phase ...
the dirt road was frozen and my convertible is in my neighbors heated garage while he is in florida, and it was sooo sunny, i went for a ride ... top up, though the sun was tempting.
one more moss and frost picture ... maybe more tomorrow ...
