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Furniture & Carpentry If you’re beginning to wonder where that new album is, it’s because I’ve been a little distracted. Sometimes I wonder if I should have just gone into some line of work to make “spaces” for people. It’s what I want to do with songs. Lately, I’ve been enjoying a season of creating that involves the cutting and carving of wood rather than the pen and paper crafting of songs… but those will come again. I can hear the hum of bees, waking up after a long winter. Picture your room. What you have in your room speaks about you and who are you. If you have real trouble throwing things away, it’s likely that your room will reflect it. If you are living in a small rural village somewhere on the outskirts of Calcutta, you might have only a few possessions, but I think they’d be speaking just as loudly, about priorities, your livelihood, your heart. I don’t want to elevate material things to a ridiculous level, because we as people are so much more than that, but I’m a clue-hunter, and material things are great clues. I just have to say it: I love 3/4 inch “good one side” fir plywood. Yes. And I owe Paul, our next door neighbour a lot of thanks, as he has been lending me all of his nice hand planers, scrapers and chisels. Please be reminded that these photos are copyrighted. That means that you need to get permission by the artist to use them. Click on thumbnails for larger photos. |
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Dish cupboard 2005 Fir plywood/pine construction Approx. 4 x 3 feet The clean and simple lines of most Japanese furniture really appeals to me. It’s a nice balance for the Indian embroidery work I collect (and am trying to learn how to do) which is terribly bright and complex. |
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Sofa 2005 Fir plywood construction 6 x 2 feet There’s nothing too complex about the design of this sofa, but it needed to do double duty as a bed for overnight guests, and I still wanted folks to be able to lean against the back. I ended up attaching the back to the wall beside it, using a long piece of plywood that hides the ugly heaters, and secures into the low table, which I screwed into the floor. This way, when we need to create a sleeping situation for two, the sofa can be pulled away from the back, and slid over to the other sofa, and secured. |
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Bathroom shelves 2006 Fir plywood construction 7 x 3 feet 36 x 15 inches Our ceilings are high, as is our priority for storage. I needed a place to start putting the guitars, so I decided that the most humid place in the house (our place is so dry in the winter that one of my guitars cracked in three places) the bathroom, was pretty much the only place left. The huge shelf runs the entire length of the bathroom along one side, and has a secondary shelf below that holds towels and stuff. I put it high enough so that when Travis (Chris’ bass player) comes to visit he won’t smash his head. (Travis is about 6 feet, 6 inches tall) |
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Indian Puja cabinet 2006 Solid Poplar wood construction 30 x 14 inches (Work in progress) Inspired by several of these kinds of cabinets I saw in India on the last trip, I wanted to build something that we could use to store incense and items that Chris and I use in our own personal devotional times (attempt, is the word most appropriate to me; not the word discipline, I’m afraid) and his sitar practice sessions. There’s something really beautiful about watching smoke drift up when one is trying to pray. As a visual person, I really connect to it. The cupboard is currently in the carving stage, (something I started learning when I was about 13 years old) and will be finished with a dark stain, to match the Indian desk which will be sitting underneath it. The next two pieces (including this one) were made without the use of power tools (with the small exception of a drill, to fasten the hinges/hardware.) |
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Indian desk 2006 Solid Poplar wood construction 16 x 25 inches If you’ve ever traveled to India, you’ll see a lot of shopkeepers with desks like this. It’s also the kind of desk that Gandhi used during his lifetime. You have to be able to sit cross-legged for long periods of time to use it, and so that’s why you don’t find these at your local North American furniture store. I’m trying to get more used to sitting this way (ever since I started Tabla lessons) and Chris already spends about 3 –4 hours like this during his Sitar practice, so I really wanted to make one of these to house all of his musical gear (like the “fake” non-aesthetic Tampura and Tabla machines.) It’s also where we sit when we want to take the time to be more quiet, think, pray, journal or read snippets of Thomas Merton or the Psalms. |
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Japanese lantern 2006 Solid Poplar construction 14 x 7 inches We broke living room paper lantern at a one of my gigs, so I figured I better make something a little more solid. The top handle part comes apart so that you can removed the electric light and replace it with a candle, for romantic picnics in twilight meadows full of late summer Queen anne’s lace. |
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