Modern Design.

[george wilson]

I hardly ever make modern furniture. In fact,I don't make much furniture. But my wife likes Art Deco. I never paid much attention to it before I met her.

This is a table and jewelry box I made for her in the 90's. It has wrought iron "legs". The table and box are made of curly maple,,lace wood,cocobolo,and Brazilian rosewood. There are small panels of stained glass flanking the bracelet drawer. It is faced with a mirror with brass trim. I made the drawer pulls also,from brass. The bracelet holder is the size of her wrist. It pops up when the drawer is opened. Inside the tall doors are places to hang long necklaces.

It is finished in nitrocellulose lacquer.

Lots of angle cutting in this piece.

You will either like it or hate it,I'm sure!

[Sean Hughto]

Exquisite! Like everything you make. Your patience and attention to detail is unrivaled. Lovely design too. All class.

[Paul Sidener]

I would think you would be better off looking at woodworker's blogs. I have been in Jeff Miller's workshop, he makes some beautiful contemporary pieces. He has some interesting techniques as well. He has a wonderful blog.

http://furnituremaking.com

[Frederick Skelly]

That's all old stuuf Sean.

Contemporary is NOW

Umm, Kees? You, uh didnt build this one did you? Because, well, it ummm, well it looks like someone was moving and the load shifted.

Uh. Sorry man.

[Shawn Pixley]

You are absolutely correct here! New materials, an affluent society, and a rejection of the traditional combined with ideas coming out of Scandanavia which coalesced into the American mid century modern movement.

[Sean Hughto]

Fred, drawers are the compartments housing our personas. From the skins we cover ourselves in to meet the world each day to the implements we utilize to cook and feed ourselves to the make up, papers and pens and on and on. For this piece I utilized found drawers that had housed persona fragments and built them fresh housings in a nod to the tansu aesthetic. These persona fragments and their housings cascade over one another in the jumble of modern day tiddlywinks. The flexible strap represents the boundary between ourselves and the world - flexible and barely able to contain our fragments. I hope that helps.

[Shawn Pixley]

Ask away. I tend towards Japanese modern. We live in a modern house and largely have modern furniture except for a few antique pieces I have collected (Art Moderne, Art Deco, Arts and Crafts, and Eastlake Victorian. I would be a bit (maybe a lot) more minimalist than my wife.

The stacked drawer assemblage is not furniture IMO. it is intended as art. I don't care for it myself.

[Shawn Pixley]

So how about this, Kees:




Modern or old?

Modern rustic. Nice craftsmanship. Not my personal style or liking.

[Sean Hughto]

What a relief to have a label. Lol

[Shawn Pixley]

The recent "Made in Massachusetts" exhibition of studio furniture at the Fuller Craft museum
may have illustrated the distinction more clearly.

It included traditional masterworks, as exemplified by Phil Lowe's federal period chair
to the fanciful silk-screened cabinets of Jenna Goldberg.

To my mind, modern design was exemplified by Gere Osgood's iconic desk.
Sleek, novel and fully functional.

Attachment 300083

Beautiful!

I like John Makepeace's work as well.

[David Weaver]

I hardly ever make modern furniture. In fact,I don't make much furniture. But my wife likes Art Deco. I never paid much attention to it before I met her.

This is a table and jewelry box I made for her in the 90's. It has wrought iron "legs". The table and box are made of curly maple,,lace wood,cocobolo,and Brazilian rosewood. There are small panels of stained glass flanking the bracelet drawer. It is faced with a mirror with brass trim. I made the drawer pulls also,from brass. The bracelet holder is the size of her wrist. It pops up when the drawer is opened. Inside the tall doors are places to hang long necklaces.

It is finished in nitrocellulose lacquer.

Lots of angle cutting in this piece.

You will either like it or hate it,I'm sure!

When I see that, I think of d'angelico guitars.

[Frederick Skelly]

Fred, drawers are the compartments housing our personas. From the skins we cover ourselves in to meet the world each day to the implements we utilize to cook and feed ourselves to the make up, papers and pens and on and on. For this piece I utilized found drawers that had housed persona fragments and built them fresh housings in a nod to the tansu aesthetic. These persona fragments and their housings cascade over one another in the jumble of modern day tiddlywinks. The flexible strap represents the boundary between ourselves and the world - flexible and barely able to contain our fragments. I hope that helps.

Oh man, I cant stop laughing. I cant stop. Im so glad you explained it Sean. I was worried some guy's stuff fell out of his truck all over the Autobaun.

I just cant stop laughin man!

I prefer your work or Shawn Pixley's. Both of you are great with design.

[Paul Sidener]

That's all old stuuf Sean.

Contemporary is NOW.

Sorry Fidel, I have no real answer. I am curious myself. You can find some hobbyist made stuff and discussions on woodworking.de which is more modern then classic.

Reminds me of this.

[Mel Fulks]

George, beautiful. Seems more "Deco inspired" than Deco, a good thing since it was not made in that period. The trompe
Loil facade is not unmasked until the cabinet is opened, and the fine points and beauty of the interior that are usually reserved for your wife make it a great gift.

[Frederick Skelly]

All joking aside, this has been a GREAT thread. I learned more about design by reading this thread and reviewing the links you folks provided than I think I previously KNEW. My stuff is almost always rectangular. Its pretty enough but very straight forward and doesnt push any artistic boundaries. Heck, I never knew some of this stuff EXISTED. (Yes, I know that sounds ignorant or sheltered or both - but its true.)

Thanks for the lesson.