"Orbs" collaboration with Paula Barry

Each year, a focal point of my creative intentions is directed towards the Living With Crafts exhibition at the League of NH Craftsmen's Annual Fair (aka "Sunapee"). The event runs from August 4-12, with a preview party on Friday evening, August 3. This year, I have two pieces that were accepted for the display, and both of them are collaborations. And all collaborations have a story! In this blog entry, I will tell you about the piece done in conjunction with the ceramic artist Paula Barry. http://paulabarryceramics.com

The story began last summer, when my wife Kathy saw the Sculpture Garden at the Sunapee craft fair, and came back to my booth, recommending I go see some ceramic garden sculptures. I did, and instantly started to see the forms as a starting point for a lamp base for my wood shades. By coincidence, it turned out that they were made by Paula Barry, and that her booth at the fair was in the same tent as mine. Paula and I chatted during the rest of the show, and made a tentative plan to submit a collaborative piece for Living With Crafts in 2012.

Our first idea was to make a floor lamp. using a stack of Paula's elliptical hollow forms, which I started to call "orbs." The idea was to alternate ceramic and wood orbs in a tall column. Later on, I realized that the weight of the entire piece, and the forces that could torque on the ceramic forms, could make the piece a bit fragile. So we switched to the concept of making table lamps. I sketched some ideas which I submitted to the Living With Crafts selection jury, and which were accepted. 

Once we got the go-ahead, Paula responded quickly by making about 30 orbs, all different colors and with a variety of carved patterns. She brought them to New London, and we had a fun time playing, stacking them up in to various sets, trying to find the best combinations of colors and graduated sizes. We ended up with four sets we liked, and over the next couple of months, I made up the lamp bases from the sets. Each lamp base has a larger solid wood orb-like shape at the foot, five of the ceramic orbs in a stack, topped by a smaller wood "neck," which serves the purpose of allowing the shade to set a bit higher, thus allowing the viewer to see all of the ceramic parts. Once the bases were all made, I started matching them up with shades that I had already made. Since the table lamp bases are relatively tall (about 19") and have substantial visual mass, they seem to look best with fairly large shades, typically about 17-18" in diameter. Once the four lamps were completely set up, I took high quality formal pictures which you can see at the bottom of this blog entry.

These collaborative lamps are part of a longer-term exploration that has to do with stacked round shapes. My blog entry for July, 2010 is about my Bryce Canyon floor lamp base (http://woodshades.blogspot.com/2010/07/bryce-canyon-floor-lamp.html), and if you read that you will see references to the amazing hoodoos at Bryce, as well as the Gaudi cathedral in Barcelona, and the drip forms that are sometimes part of sand castles. Since then, I have also connected the basic idea to rock cairns that are used to mark hiking trails in the mountains, and some of the environmental sculptures made by Andy Goldsworthy. Nothing I am creating in wood, or using the ceramic orbs, is exactly modeled on any of the visuals. See this link to a photo gallery to see a collection of images that relate to the stacked form concept http://woodglow.smugmug.com/Art/Inspirations/24462429_JPtF3c#!i=1995750104&k=n2sfW5X.

SunDrops: another new collaboration with David Little

David Little is a fantastic blacksmith in Meredith, NH. You can see older posting on my blog about other pieces we have done together. He and I began collaborating in 2004, and almost every year since then, we have come up with new projects to create together. Some are commissions for clients, and some are for exhibitions. This summer we premiered an entirely new design concept for the Living With Crafts exhibit at the League of NH Craftsmen's Annual Fair at Sunapee, NH.

It began as a drawing I made five or six years ago, but we never actually built it. I have always liked the concept, but since it is more three dimensional than our other pieces, the sketch could not do justice to the essential forms, so we never got a client interested in commissioning this piece. This year, we took the leap of faith to build it for the LWC exhibit, and it could not have been a bigger success. David and I love the way it came out, and it opens up a whole new branch to our growing portfolio of designs. It also won two prestigious awards at Living With Crafts: Best Collaboration, and Best in Contemporary Design. There were so many amazing pieces in the exhibition, so we are honored to be selected by the jurors.

An interesting bit about how the design evolved: the original drawing was quite a bit taller and proportionally narrower, and that form is equally dramatic. But it would only be appropriate for a room with a very high ceiling. In coming up with the final drawings for LWC, it was obvious that it needed to be re-scaled to suit the exhibition hall. In doing that, we realized it could easily be scaled in many ways: wider or narrower, taller or shorter, and with shades as small as 10" diameter or as large as 18." All the variations we played with looked good! What we settled on is a fairly small rendition, which was appropriate for the space and also the Terry Moore Table over which it was going to be placed.

When we had it all built, we realized it needed a name. Originally we had been referring to it as "Tri-Icicles,"

which made more sense when it was a much taller form. But in this shorter configuration, it looked less like icicles. And when the shades were suspended from the steel and lit up, the coloration and glow was so much warmer feeling than anything having to do with ice and winter. Although it is not literally mimicking any natural floral form, it seemed reminiscent of something growing and organic. Suddenly the word "SunDrops" came to

mind, and that title resonated instantly. Now we couldn't imagine it being called anything else!

One other note about this piece. Working on two dimensional paper to draw three dimensional forms is limiting. The interplay of lines sweeping through space is entirely different depending on what angle the piece is seen from. And even if I can imagine what the lines on the paper mean when it is translated to three dimensions, it is far from an ideal way to present to a prospective client – the dynamic range of dancing shapes is confusing and ambiguous. So I am now learning how to make 3D models out of copper wire and tubing, annealing the metal so it bends sinuously, and soldering the joints. I still have to work out some tricks for how to hold the odd shaped pieces together while I solder, but the process of bending and arranging the components is fascinating. Just a simple thing like taking three arc-shaped elements and holding them together in different ways provides for infinite choices. The aesthetic and functional results are fascinating. I have no doubt that this new way of designing is going to open up a lot of new project opportunities.

The League's New Home

The League of NH Craftsmen is the oldest state craft organization in the country, runs the oldest craft show, and is truely an amazing operation that supports the making and makers of fine craft in ways that are very dear to my heart. I have been a juried member of the League for almost 30 years, and have served in various volunteer roles for almost all of that time. The most recent involvement for me has been on the Building Committee which has helped to overseen the League's huge endeavor of building a new home. In July, we will move in to the new digs, which are on Main Street in Concord, across from the Capital Center for the Arts. We will own half of the first floor of a new building built by Steve Dupree. The public spaces will include two gorgeous gallery spaces, an area in the lobby for demonstrations, a large multifunction room (can be divided in to two smaller spaces), a classroom, a studio workshop room, and a library. Also efficient offices and storage, modernized technological, and best of all, lots of handcrafted objects to make this new building glow with the feeling of what the League really represents: the meaning and beauty of hand made objects. I am on a subcommittee that has imagined how handcraft can be incorporated, solicited our juried membership for submissions, and made the choices on what to use.

My involvement does not stop with committee

work. I am part of a 5-person team that is creating the reception desk in the lobby. It is so much more than a desk, more like a giant organic sculpture that also serves as a functional workspace. The lower part will be based on a frame of cherry and walnut made by Seth Keidaisch, filled in with enameled copper panels made by Steve Hayden. David Little and Steve will embellish those panels with black iron branch-like lines. Suspended above the granite counter will be 9 cherry panels carved by Jeff Cooper with images depicting craftspeople's hands at work. Those panels are suspended on freeform black iron structural elements. And dropping down from the ceiling will be snakey black steel tubes that will hold up five of my minipendants. The drawing at the right gives some impression of what the piece will look like, but believe me, it will be so much more spectacular. There are many details and rich colors that were impossible to capture in a sketch. When it is done, I will try to get a new blog post up that gives a visual tour.

Banksia Light Galore

Last summer, I posted a blog entry about my first Banksia seed pod lamps. At the time, it was a new concept for me, and quite interesting. I never would have guessed how much other people would respond to these beautiful and bizarre natural objects. During the summer I quickly sold all the lamps I made with the Banksia bases, and ordered more pods. So now I am well set for Banksia bases thru the summer. I also ordered a third batch of the "whopper" pods.

When this third box arrived, it was obvious that I had scraped the "bottom of the barrel" of what was available, since these were smaller. Still much bigger than the usual 6-7" pods that I have seen for years, this last batch was more like 9-10" long. Too small for making lamp bases, but perfect for a new product: candlesticks. I made the first pair as a special order, and now have some more made up for the upcoming Marlboro craft show. Again a very dramatic and functional form that takes advantage of the unique appearance of the pods. Along with the table lamps and the candlesticks, I also make tea lights and oil candle lights out of the pods, and it makes quite a collection of illuminating creations.

What I learned is that Banksia pods are mainly harvested in March and April each year. And the "whopper" pods that I am interested in are quite rare, perhaps about 100 are harvested each year. I seem to have an inside line on purchasing these, and at this point, and am buying more than I am using, so that I can make sure that I stay ahead. Fascinating how an annually renewable resource can also be so extraordinarily rare.

Bryce Canyon Floor Lamp

I just posted a blog entry about one of my two entries to the Living With Crafts exhibition, where you can read about my table lamp made with a Banksia Seed Pod. The second piece in the exhibit is the one pictured on the right. It is made with a fantastic piece of Redwood Burl, combined with the lighter color parts made of Sugar Maple. The burl parts came from a single thick plank of Redwood, and the color and grain patterns are densely packed with swirls and eyes. The Maple is not as wildly dramatic, but has an interesting side story. It came from a tree I cut down when I built our home 30 years ago, and I cut the planks with a chain saw mill. One of those boards has been buried in the back of my wood shed for all these years, and finally resurfaced this winter, in time to become a part of this project.

The title of the piece is Bryce Canyon Floor Lamp, because for me it is loosely reminiscent of the bizarre natural stone forms in Bryce Canyon National Monunment in Utah. At the bottom of this post is a photo from Bryce, where you can perhaps see the influence. It is one of my favorite places on earth, almost seems impossible that such a place could be formed naturally.

There are other influences that relate to this form. You could say it looks a bit like a sand castle dribble-tower. It also looks a bit like one of the spires of Gaudi's cathedral in Barcelona, a form and an architectural marvel I have always felt attached to. And finally, I connect this floor lamp with a stone fountain made by Louis Pomerantz that I have been lusting after. In any case, this idea of rounded shapes piled up on top of one another is clearly a new aesthetic for me, that I think I will be exploring more in the future. I am most curious to hear comments from you if you have thoughts to share.

Living With Crafts: Banksia Table Lamp

I have been working with Banksia Seed Pods for a couple of years, since Kathy and I went on a trip to Australia and actually saw the pods "in the wild." They grow on a hardwood tree native only to that country. There are actually 175 varieties of Banksia, most of which produce pods that are much smaller, acorn to plum size, and the ones we saw in person were very small. But in the deserts of Western Australia, Bull Banksia (Banksia Grandis) is much larger, from 4-16” long. When flowering, they are even larger, since each of the tiny bumps on the surface sprouts a long spike of flower petal forming a shape that is like a giant bottle brush in yellows, greens, and reds.

Interestingly, the Banksia name comes from Joseph Banks, the famous botanist on Captain Cook’s vessel, The Endeavor, as it circled the globe in the 1700’s in what is rightly considered one of the greatest missions of geographic and biological discovery.

Banskia pods resemble pine cones in a general way, but they are much more dense and heavy. That makes them strong and substantial. They are extremely difficult to carve, since the internal structure is brittle and honeycombed with the empty seed cavities. And they are also impregnated with micro-grains of sand from their desert habitat, and that dulls tools quickly. So I mostly work them by literally grinding away the material to get the best form for my purposes – not the most fun way to turn wood, but the results are so stunning, and I keep going back to this material.

There are several layers to a Banksia pod. The outer crust is grayish and bumpy, punctuated by smiling lips at the edges of the seed cavities. Then right after that is a layer of crimson felt that almost seems unnatural in it’s softness and perfection. Under the felt is a rock-hard core that radiates out from the central pith. Each pod is different in shape, arrangement of cavities, and coloration of the core.

Until this spring, the largest pods I could obtain in this country were maybe 8" long, great for candle lanterns. But this year, I found a source for a few extraordinary pods that were 11-14" long. That made it possible to make a lamp base using a single pod, with a wider base made of a different kind of wood (Teak in this case). The results are stunning, with the light shedding down over the varied surface textures of the pod in ways that really picks up the felt areas, the dark cavities, and the wild grain textures.

What a dramatic combination for the warm glow coming thru the side of the shade.

The photo at the top is of the table lamp that will be in the Living With Crafts exhbition at the Sunapee Craft Show (more accurately known as the Annual Fair of the League of NH Craftsmen). Hopefully you will get a chance to see it there. But since making that one, I have made four others using these pods, with different forms and different companion wood for the bottom disk. The photo below shows a whole seed pod.

New Table Lamp design for the Balsams Hotel

I have been privileged to be a demonstrator at The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel for one week every summer since 1995. Guests at the hotel get to watch me make small wood lampshades, and work with me hands-on making smaller accessory items. This coming year I expect to be there in July, probably the week beginnning July 5. It is wonderful in every way: I get to meet interesting people who appreciate my work; I am productive: I get to work in the most beautiful place imaginable: and since we don’t demonstrate every single hour of the day, it is semi-vacation of a kind. And I could not recommend the hotel more enthusiastically! You will never be treated better, or have better meals. Come the week I am demonstrating and we can connect in person. Check them out at http://www.thebalsams.com. Or look at my earlier blog posting about this demo gig at http://woodshades.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

I feel deeply connected to the hotel and it’s commitment to the summer artisan’s program, the overall pursuit of quality and personal attention to detail, and the long history of one of the “grandest” of grand resort hotels in New England. In 2005, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my demonstrating, I donated a table lamp to the hotel, and it is part of the decor of the spectacular Tillotson Suite. I also have a small table lamp on loan to the massage room in the spa.

After consultation with Jeff McGiver, the managing director of the hotel, I designed a new table lamp base that is exclusively associatied with the Balsams. Two of the lamps now sit proudly in the registration area of the lobby, and I am more of this lamp design available for purchase by guests and appreciators of the Balsams. This has been a lovely project for deepening my connection to The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel, and representing that association with a tangible and artistic expression.

As you can perhaps perceive, the design is reminiscent of a conifer tree, and relates to the many beautiful trees on the hotel property, and to the logo of the hotel, which is comprised of three balsam fir trees in a circular frame. The lamps in the lobby have 16” tall bases and are about 30” tall overall. But the concept can be scaled to whatever dimensions you need.

Visual Narrative of Collaborative Floor Lamp with Ted Blachly

Ted is a fantastic furniture maker, and this year we decided to collaborate on a floor lamp for Living With Crafts at the Sunapee Fair. He started with a concept that was something I would call "refined folk art, with a fairly literal vision of an african woman, colorfully painted. After creating a half-size model and decorating it, he decided to go to a more abstract and elegant plan made out of Mahogany, with a Wenge base plinthe. Ted has given it the name "Zuri," which he says means "beautiful" in Swahili.

Below you can see a series of photos that Ted took as he progressed thru models to finished pieces, and ending with a shot I took yesterday of the complete shade and base combination. On Tuesday it gets delivered to the exhibit, along with my pair of collaborative table lamps with Sharon Dugan, and my dining table hanging light fixture titled "Le Grand Jete."

Come see this unusual piece of woodworking at the Living With Crafts exhibition in Newbury, NH at the oldest craft fair in the country, the League of NH Craftsmen's Annual Fair, August 1-9.

New Focus on New Lamp Bases

What I am most known for are my translucent wood lampshades. After making them for 16 years, I have no less passion about making the shades. In fact for the past month or so, my energy level has increased, and I find myself working longer hours and chomping at the bit to get in to the shop, seven days a week.

But over the past couple of years, I have also developed a renewed fascination with the lamp bases t hat hold the shades up in the air, and make them functional. For years, most of my bases have been out of Mahogany. Originally I used many species, but early on I noticed the most people were choosing the Mahogany and ignoring the other choices of wood. Mahogany has a special warm glow when illuminated by the light from the shade, something in the grain and color make it stand out from the crowd.

Then a couple of years ago I began using Camphorwood Burl for a few table lamp bases – see my July 2008 blog posting to learn more about that specifically. The Camphor bases have been popular, and I try to keep 2 or 3 Camphor Burl bases in inventory at any time. It is hard to find good pieces of the wood, and it is very expensive to purchase the raw chunks of the material. So I keep a web bookmark for the source company easily available and try to check it every day or so, to see if anything new and special has become available. Going to that web site has had a side benefit. I kept seeing other interesting photos of pieces of wood that they had, and this winter, I purchased a few other blocks, and expanded my experiments with new species for table lamp bases. There are challenges in this. I get to see a photo of the piece of wood before making the purchase, but that only provides a vague hint about what the wood will look like. And I never know how wet the wood will be – wet wood introduces the chance of cracking in the drying process.

But the result of these experiments have been fabulous. You can see in the photos below lamp bases made from Cocobolo Rosewood, Wenge, Dalmata, and Osage Orange. All four of these show off colors and grain patterns that relate well to the lampshades, and add a higher level of interest and uniqueness to the entire lamp setup. There are two downsides to my experiments with new species for lamp bases. One is kind of funny: I can't figure out how to display all of these new goodies and also keep showing my older "tried-and-true" designs in Mahogany. Second. all these unusual species are much more expensive than the Mahogany, so the that has an impact on the total price for a finished lamp. In this economy, that might be a disadvantage. But..... oh boy to these look great! And I will keep making plenty of the perfectly lovely Mahogany bases.

And I have other pieces in process. I have roughed out shapes for bases made of Madrone Burl and Bois de Rose (a rosewood species from Madagascar). In the meantime, take a look at these photos of completed piece, I hope you agree that this set of experiments is worth exploring.

Collaboration with Sharon Dugan

At long last, I am back to blogging, with a number of ideas of what to say. Sorry about the hiatus!

Sharon Dugan is a truly fantastic basketmaker, who I have known thru the League of NH Craftsmen for perhaps 15 years. I have always admired the intricacy of her work, and her aesthetic vision. She has a commitment to doing things right, by hand, by herself that I respond to strongly. This winter, I proposed to her that we do a collaborative effort for the upcoming Living With Crafts exhibit. We came up with a plan for a matched pair of table lamps. I turned a couple of columns of wood, and she created a woven splint design to cover those columns.

Now that she has completed her work, I have created bottom-disk and top-cap parts and assembled the entire bases. Still to come are the matched shades, but I have temporarily put a shade on one base to give a good idea of what the whole piece will look like when the pair is exhibited at the show in Sunapee, NH from August 1-10.

FYI, the pair is available for $4000 for the set. If they do not sell together, they can be purchased individually at the end of the exhibition. We are very excited about the results of this collaboration and would entertain other commissions in this general style.

Click on the title of this blog posting "Collaboration with Sharon Dugan" to be taken to her web site. It is www.sharondugan.com

Balsams Grand Hotel Demonstration Week

The Balsams is an amazing Grand Resort Hotel, in northern NH. Far far far Northern NH, seems like it is almost off the edge of the map of the USA, and in some ways if feels like it is off the edge of the 21st Century! The scenery is fantastic, the food is heavenly, and they have an unusual craft and art demonstration program that is both supportive of artistans and entertaining and informative to the guests. Each week during the summer, a different person sets up their equipment and a display of completed works, and the visitors spend time viewing and learning, and often getting involved in a hands-on basis.

2008 is my thirteenth straight year being involved with the Balsams. It is a huge physical effort to get all my stuff up there. I have even built a special water-filled lathe for making small lampshades on-site. But once I am set up, I love the whole experience, which is so different than a craft show. The interactions with the guests are leisurely, and the beauty of the location is simply breathtaking. My demonstration area is outside under an awning I build, and when I gaze out over my lathe, I am looking upon spectacular gardens, a lovely lake, and right up into the rugged cliffs of Dixville Notch. I am prone to exclaim to the guests that for one week each year, I have the most beautiful "office" in the world.

Last week I worked on lampshades and bottle stoppers outdoors, and also helped a lot of people have their first experience holding a turning gouge and making shavings. Many of them are young, sometimes less than 10 years old. And then some are guys who have not turned since high school, and that may have been 60 years ago. There is joy and amazement as they hold the gouge and discover how it works, how to control the cuts, how to reveal the beauty of the wood. I keep it safe by holding my hands on the gouge from the side, but after the first few cuts, my instant students are already doing most of the control and application of effort.



Being at the Balsams is a working vacation for me. I get lots of useful work accomplished, I sell my work and make great connections with prospective clients, and Kathy and I are guests in the hotel ourselves, which means we get to eat the award-winning meals and use the amazing facilities. I hope you someday get to enjoy the Balsams yourself as a guest. Think ahead to July of next summer.... I don't yet know what week I will have next year but it will probably be in early July.

Check out their web site to get more information: http://www.thebalsams.com

Camphor Burl Lamp Bases!

I am again recognizing how infrequently I post here, my apologies. But I do have something "hot" to talk about, a material for making lamp bases that is simply amazing. Camphor is a species of wood that grows in the entire Pacific Basin. I see specific references to Borneo and Taiwan, but apparently it is more widespread. It has become an invasive species along river banks in Northeast Australia, and major efforts are going on there to eradicate or control its spread. As I understand it, is is basically a weed tree, but it does have one commercial product that is extracted from the wood: Camphor Oil. Here are a couple of interesting tidbits that I picked up from Googling:

"Steaming the tree’s bark or wood creates a white, crystalline, and odorous substance, a substance that was once believed to hold magical properties, but now has scientifically proven medicinal qualities."

"The therapeutic properties of camphor oil are analgesic, antidepressant, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, cardiac, carminative, diuretic, febrifuge, hypertensive, insecticide, laxative, rubefacient, stimulant, sudorific, vermifuge and vulnerary. Camphor oil can be used in the treatment of nervous depression, acne, inflammation, arthritis, muscular aches and pains, sprains, rheumatism, bronchitis, coughs, colds, fever, flu and infectious diseases."

Most of the Camphor oil produced now is synthetic, not from Camphor trees.


Anyway, there is a company in Oregon that imports blocks of burlwood from Camphor trees, and they are gorgeous. Early last fall I bought one and made a lamp base, and it sold instantly at the first show where I exhibited the piece. The same thing happened with the next two Camphor Burl pieces I worked with. So now I am convinced that it not only me that sees Camphor Burl as being an excellent material for making lamp bases. The combination of this wood with my shades is really stunning. The warm light of the translucent wood lends a dramatic extra oomph to the amazing colors and swirling patterns in the burlwood.

The wood is amazing to work with, it is heavy but very workable, cutting smoothly. It is mostly very solid and stable, not honeycombed with cracks or bark inclusions. Each piece is quite unique, some swirl patterns are tight and small, others are large and evenly spread over the entire piece. But from a wood turners point of view, perhaps the most remarkable thing about working with Camphor is the smell of the wood. As soon as I make the first cut, my shop is full of the most amazing odor, it would remind you a bit of Vic's VapoRub, but much much more pleasant. For so many years, I have had an annual winter cold, but not this year. Does that have to do with my breathing in the medicinal qualities of the Camphor? Who knows.... but I like the smell. When clients buy a lamp made of Camphor, I am providing them with a baggy of the shavings, a small memento of the process of crafting that base.

I have gone a bit crazy for Camphor Wood. In addition to the three I have already sold, I have now completed 8 more Camphor Burl lamp bases for the upcoming League of NH Craftsmen craft fair at Sunapee next week. And I just ordered 4 more chunks of the wood. The raw material is quite expensive, so of course there is a premium to be paid for these bases, but they are so remarkable. I feel sure I am on the right track, and that my commitment to this new direction will be something that you will all enjoy.