JUST INSTALLED!

Melanie and I visited a client’s mountain home about 18 months ago to discuss some custom occasional tables when they mentioned wanting something creative on their stone accent wall. This customer own’s a horticulture business that grew ornamental plants in Central America, so our conversation took a number of twists and curves, which we all enjoyed.

The conversation was interesting and generated visual forms in my mind of what to design for their space — the full realization of this particular piece developed over the coming weeks and months. The clients happened to be in town when we were steam-bending the oak pieces, so we invited them over, and Joe jumped in and bent a couple of the ribs. It was fun to have the clients in the shop being creative with us, not only for the bending but evaluating the proportion of the piece and talking about how it might hang. The piece continued to evolve even during the installation. It wasn’t until I unintentionally shifted it while bolting it to the wall that it seemed to come to life. It feels exactly like I imagined it on that first visit. Now that was good fun!

Brian and the Client Working Together on Steam-Bending

Brian’s Process for Tapering Warped and Bowed Wood