Concrete

For many years, wood has been the primary material I work with, and I would say that is still true. Over the past ten or twelve years I have been incorporating other materials like steel, glass and concrete into my work when a design calls for it, generally as accents. A few pieces have approached the half and half point between wood and some other material, but the Monolith Bench is the first piece I have ever made without incorporating any wood. Partly it was an exercise to explore a new direction, but mostly it was just how I saw the piece. To me this seems like a natural evolution as a furniture maker. Expanding the range of materials I work with has sometimes pushed me out of my comfort zone and presented many new technical challenges, both good things in my opinion, but, more importantly, it has greatly opened up the possibilities of what I can do, which in turn has fueled many new ideas. It has also led me to some interesting collaborations with other artists when my skills with a material weren’t a match for my ideas. Approaching a project as a furniture maker rather than strictly as a woodworker and selecting materials that are true to my vision of the piece is, for me, a much more satisfying way to create. I won’t be selling my chisels any time soon though.