Archive for April, 2008

The Meaning of Craft – The Tokens of Life

Monday, April 21st, 2008

My creative passion has created my business – Dream Forest Studios. Dream Forest Studios prides itself on being a custom wood studio which is driven by a balance of my creative passion for fine craftsmanship and client satisfaction. My belief and hope is that fine furniture pieces, properly cared for, last generations and become heirlooms to be treasured, touched and admired .

One of the main reasons I enjoy this work so much is because of it’s timeless beauty, and the memories created around our simple existence. We as human beings interact on multiple levels with both the inanimate and the animate. We leave our imprint on those objects, and people, and in-turn those objects and people leave imprints on us.  I enjoy the simple tranquility of nature. It is this connection I take and put into my furniture and craftsmanship. The harmony and connection I get as I feel a piece of wood being worked through my tools is something of unspoken beauty. Watching shavings peel away from a piece of rough wood into something that may inspire a connection to this world that is unique to the observer. 

I have many memories of my grandfather and this really old rocking chair that he had when I was growing up as a kid. When I was very small, and I came for a visit, I remember sitting in that chair and being rocked to sleep in it.

A few years ago, my wife’s grandmother passed away, and we were fortunate to get her old bedroom furniture. My wife and I are proudly expecting our first born this July. This past weekend, my lovely wife and myself had dinner with my mother-in-law, and she told us how happy she was that we have the furniture in the family. She remembers as a little girl how her mother meticulously cleaned and maintained that furniture and how she slept in the bed, both of her brothers slept in the bed and used the dresser and bureau.

On a humorous note, my wife told me of an old yellow chair that she hated so much as a kid, that she bit just to let her parents know how much she hated yellow.

Color Match Challenge

Monday, April 21st, 2008

My creative passion has created my business – Dream Forest Studios. Dream Forest Studios prides itself on being a custom wood studio which is driven by a balance of my creative passion for fine craftsmanship and client satisfaction. Fine furniture pieces, properly cared for, last generations.

My current project is to build an entertainment unit which matches an existing wall unit.  The unit itself was made from a pickled red oak. Pickling works very well on large open pored woods like oak, ash and chestnut.

However, if I ever caught someone pickling the VERY rare and treasured chestnut, they would find themselves with a rather sore hand after I smacked it with my dead-blow mallet.

Typically, a pigment is dispersed in a solvent, and the pigment lodges itself into the pores of the wood. Oak, I believe is an underrated wood. It’s warm natural tones, and grain structure can be accentuated using multiple techniques. Depending on how it has been milled, and finished, can make some outstanding furniture pieces.

The trouble with the unit I was color matching was that due to its age, and being in direct sunlight, the existing color had faded.  All newly milled red oak has a very pleasing reddish brown tinge to it that is naturally darker than the wall unit already in place.

Another challenging point is that my shop lighting is primarily fluorescent. This adds an entirely new dimension to the details. Fluorescent lighting adds a greenish / blue tint to all of the colors mixed and applied. So, I’ve found that a color that looked absolutely wonderful in the shop often times, stared back mockingly at me in my client’s sun-light living room.

 After multiple pieces were cut for sampling, and chemically treated, and two not-so-productive color matching appointments had come and gone, the third time was the charm.