The Throne
This piece came about first as a commission. At a studio tour someone asked about a piece I caved ten years ago, titled The Mushroom. At this tour my wife decided that she didn't want to sell The Mushroom this year, although it had been for sale in previous tours. She is "allowed" to change her mind. So the person is asking my wife about buying The Mushroom, it's not for sale but I do commissions. I have for sometime wanted to have another go at the mushroom piece. It didn't turn out the way I intended, so having the chance to try again was very appealing to me. We talked about design, we talked about woods to use, we talked about time and we talked about money. The timeline was kind of short but with everything else lining up we agreed to give it a go.
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This piece came about first as a commission. At a studio tour someone asked about a piece I carved ten years ago, titled The Mushroom. At this tour my wife decided that she didn't want to sell The Mushroom this year, although it had been for sale in previous tours. She is "allowed" to change her mind. So the person is asking my wife about buying The Mushroom, it's not for sale but I do commissions. I have for sometime wanted to have another go at the mushroom piece. It didn't turn out the way I intended, so having the chance to try again was very appealing to me. We talked about design, we talked about woods to use, we talked about time and we talked about money. The timeline was kind of short but with everything else lining up we agreed to give it a go.
Next week my wife was in Farmington, N.M. tending to some other business and ended up going on a scavenging hunt for a log that was about 3' long and at least 14" in diameter. After going to a place where she bought our firewood chopping block finding they weren't in business anymore she found a contact who then sent her to another contact and finally to a log yard. Only after I had started to carve into the log did I find out the log yard was where they purchased worm and mold ridden trees cut down for firewood. The mold and the worms are very evident in the final piece. Well, the price was right, I think about $30.
It was after the piece was home and I had started to take the bark off that the client cancelled the commission. She went on a trip to Sedona found something she liked and she could have it now. As opposed to an unknown, distant, at least a few months, later. The commission died, but not the idea. I still liked the original conception, I had the log, so that is what I did. It's much closer the the ideal first attempted in The Mushroom . . . AND I liked to try it again! A few more refinements, perhaps out of a hardwood.
This is Ponderosa Pine, very green when I started and in an attempt to preserve the top as whole as possible. I cut a relief slot the length of the log and to the depth of the center with a chainsaw. We did this practice in Japanese carpentry. With heart centered pieces that were green, cut a slot the length of the piece and place the cut facing into a wall or ceiling. Therefore you were showing a wholesome post or beam with very few or no stress relief splits. Of course we used a circular saw not a chainsaw.
I've had the idea of tree limbs rising up to support a top to sit on or as a table for sometime. I'm not sure where it came from but I know I like it. The title came from sitting on it early in the carving stage. It's height is elevated, easy to stand up from, with hands on knees the image came to mind of an African or South American tribal lord holding counsel and sitting on the largest piece of furniture in the tribe. Or maybe, one of the Lords underlings carved it for the tribe king. I don't know, daydreams, but I liked the image and it stuck.
22" x 16" x 16"
Ponderosa Pine
$4000.00
Next week my wife was in Farmington, N.M. tending to some other business and ended up going on a scavenging hunt for a log that was about 3' long and at least 14" in diameter. After going to a place where she bought our firewood chopping block finding they weren't in business anymore she found a contact who then sent her to another contact and finally to a log yard. Only after I had started to carve into the log did I find out the log yard was where they purchased worm and mold ridden trees cut down for firewood. The mold and the worms are very evident in the final piece. Well, the price was right, I think about $30.
It was after the piece was home and I had started to take the bark off that the client cancelled the commission. She went on a trip to Sedona found something she liked and she could have it now. As opposed to an unknown, distant, at least a few months, later. The commission died, but not the idea. I still liked the original conception, I had the log, so that is what I did. It's much closer the the ideal first attempted in The Mushroom . . . AND I liked to try it again! A few more refinements, perhaps out of a hardwood.
This is Ponderosa Pine, very green when I started and in an attempt to preserve the top as whole as possible. I cut a relief slot the length of the log and to the depth of the center with a chainsaw. We did this practice in Japanese carpentry. With heart centered pieces that were green, cut a slot the length of the piece and place the cut facing into a wall or ceiling. Therefore you were showing a wholesome post or beam with very few or no stress relief splits. Of course we used a circular saw not a chainsaw.
I've had the idea of tree limbs rising up to support a top to sit on or as a table for sometime. I'm not sure where it came from but I know I like it. The title came from sitting on it early in the carving stage. It's height is elevated, easy to stand up from, with hands on knees the image came to mind of an African or South American tribal lord holding counsel and sitting on the largest piece of furniture in the tribe. Or maybe, one of the Lords underlings carved it for the tribe king. I don't know, daydreams, but I liked the image and it stuck.
22" x 16" x 16"
Ponderosa Pine
$4000.00