The Woodshop Shed

Artist's Sitting Bench

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


https://vimeo.com/646963448I finished this sitting bench for an artist last summer, after working on it for more than nine months, and handed to her last week. For process pics follow me on Instagram, where I post most of my creative activities now: @bois.et.verre.The bench is made of quarter sawn white oak for water resistance, stability, and decorative figure. Accents are purpleheart (drawer handle and key splines) and padauk (tool organizer). It features a floating drawer case for tool storage and a step for getting above clay and exerting downward force. In the step, I chose to include damage that occurred in the lumber yard in order to honor the imperfection of Nature and Art.No coloring of the wood whatsoever; only a water based polyurethane to bring out the natural gold, purple, and orange of the material and allow the grain & figure to speak for themselves. The seating surface panel was joined by the figure, rather than the grain, to form an image about the four elements: blowing prairie grass (earth), flowing water, and renewing fire, all driven by the wind, which I attempted to represent by bringing out a sense of movement in the figure.The bottom of the drawer features an engraving that echoes the figure into a more coherent picture about the watercycle and the four elements.The accoutrements provide flexible working options. The organizer in the drawer is a tray that comes out for convenient tool placement. A purpleheart caddie with curved sides, lined with epoxy for water tightness, can receive wet tools and small parts. The miniature furniture thing holds sharp #tools both vertically and horizontally for safe and fast swaps. The display box is the only piece that includes decorative metal (gold). It contains small bottles of sawdust from the six species that went into the bench plus the splinter I removed from the gash in the step. A sepulchral lid protects the splinter while a felt-lined bracket hugs the bottles in place when the box is closed. The accoutrements are made of quarter sawn white oak, purpleheart, and padauk, the three primary materials in the bench.I plan to make separate project posts for the peripheral objects.

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