David Hurwitz Profile (Part II)

The following is a continuation of my profile of David Hurwitz that I posted a couple of weeks ago. With David's recent successes in having his work published in a Fine Woodworking book and 500 Tables, I thought it was a good time to interview him (before he became too famous and/or busy) to get a better sense of the origins of his work and to highlight what others could learn from his experiences.

Why Vermont?

David was born and raised across the lake in Plattsburg, NY and while his mother studied at Goddard College (in Plainfied, VT) in the summers he would hang out and bike around with his dog. He also hiked the Long Trail as a student. Although he has lived in other areas, he always felt he would come back to Vermont. He doesn't feel that it has influenced his work as much as his work shares an affinity with the culture and environment of Vermont. Some of the designs he is still using were developed years ago while living in suburban surroundings that didn't match his head space. By living and working in Vermont, he feels that his headspace now matches his surrounding environment.

Why Wood (and not metal, glass, stone, clay?)

David first learned woodworking in a 1st grade woodshop where they taught hand tools. Although he has learned and enjoys many other media, including metal, glass (blowing), jewelery, and concrete, he has returned to wood because at some point there isn't enough time to learn it all and it is better to master one than be mediocre in many.

Favorite Wood

None, loves them all!

Influences

The first name he mentioned was Charles Rennie Mackintosh the Scottish Art Nouveau (early arts and crafts) period furniture maker. David doesn't see any influences in his own work but he greatly appreciates his work. I see a little more similarity with the next name he mentioned Isamu Noguchi, a major sculptor to the 20th Century, but only distantly in that they both use asymmetrical designs and 3-point stands. David is also a great admirer of Carlo Mollino, the Italian architect, photographer, furniture maker, race car driver, and engineer. You can see more direct influences in his work, although where Mollino's designs might be more ridgid and mechanical, Davids are more curved and lively. David also listed Alexander Calder, Dr. Seuss, and "The Jetsons" as influences. Specifically, the small table below was designed with the "Jetsons" cartoon in mind.

"Elroy Table"

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©David Hurwitz

Working with Clients

David feels that clients get his best work when they give him basic criteria related to how the item should function and then give him broad artistic license. Also, he truly enjoys commissions that push him to do something he hasn't done before. He finds most individual clients are good about giving him the freedom to create but he has noticed that when dealing with professionals (e.g., interior designers) the end product can sometimes be adversely affected by the "too-many-hands-in-the-pot" syndrome. The lesson being, if you are going to hire David, or any other studio furniture maker because you like their work and their designs, you are more likely to get a great product if you give them design freedom.
Below is a life-sized drawing of a current project that David is working on.

©David Hurwitz

Lessons Learned
David said that, without a doubt, his best career move was moving to Vermont. He has found that it has provided him with a number of good marketing opportunities because there is a focused effort to promote wood products and he hasn't seen the same level of organization in other areas that he has worked. People work together to promote the craft, whether through the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers, or the Vermont Wood Manufacturers Association. The GVFM has also set up a blog so that follow studio furniture makers can promote their experiences as a group.

As far as his worst decisions, he said he felt they were more learning experiences than mistakes. These lessons include:
-- Be prepared for shows -- the first time David did a crafts show he was ill-prepared with marketing materials and bad lighting. After studying what others were doing, he has since been much better prepared for subsequent shows.
-- It is important to talk to other craft artists to avoid making mistakes they have made, such as always having a signed contract before beginning work on a project.
-- Don't put work in distant galleries with an unproven sales record. David had a bad experience with a gallery about 500 miles away in that they weren't able to sell any of his work; it was a major hassle to get work down there and pick it up; they damaged all of the pieces; and they used his table tops as very elaborate pedestals for other work - rather than leaving them clear as works of art on their own. From this experience he learned to be selective.

Goals

As with all woodworkers, having his own spacious studio (rather than renting his current dark, windowless, uninspiring quarters) was first on his list. In addition, he would like to develop stronger gallery connections on a national level. Other desires include developing a better web presence so that he can get more web-based commissions and spend less time traveling to shows; and being able to go on a vacation that wasn't essentially a business trip.

As a final point of interest, below are blocks and drawing of what will be two of David's signature taffy lamps.

All designs and images Copyright 2009, David Hurwitz

Wood Artist Profile: David Hurwitz (Part I)

Of all the artist/craft careers, studio furniture maker has to be the hardest. The combined struggles of mastering the craft of woodworking, developing original designs, maintaining a fully equipped studio, and marketing a product that will cost many times other similarly functioning objects are at least as great than any other discipline. Having made furniture as a hobbyist, I have a good sense of what goes into making furniture with traditional joinery and I know that the artists are lucky to be making a living wage. There just isn't any way around the fact that making fine furniture takes an enormous amount of time. On top of this, just about every schmuck with a table saw has a romantic dream of living in the woods and making furniture for a living; as a result, the competition is extremely stiff.

With the knowledge of these difficulties, I always appreciate seeing someone getting recognition and being on the cusp of making a name for themselves, perhaps even being able to make a reasonable income. Randolph, Vermont artist David Hurwitz is just such a person. As a professional furniture maker since 1988 and self-employed since 1993, David recently had two of his solo piece, along with two collaborations with stone sculptor Kerry Furlani, featured in Lark Books new publication "500 Tables":

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©David Hurwitz 2009

(this little table - bird's-eye maple top, maple legs- actually looks to be dancing)

©David Hurwitz 2009
(Kerry made the top and told David to make a table with it, I think he did a great job of integrating the two components together)

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©David Hurwitz 2009
(this one they designed the components together)

and a writing desk that is also featured in Fine Woodworking's Design Book Eight:

©David Hurwitz 2009
(I really like the use of ash for the legs on this one. The bold lines really work well with the strong curved legs; and the asymmetry of the legs really gives it a sense of being alive. It looks like a bull ready to charge.)

With the occasion of these accolades, and with the thought that I (and perhaps others) would be a lot more interested in this blog if it covered other wood artists, I interviewed David last week in order to get some insights about his work. For space considerations, I'll divide the profile into three posts.

As you can see from the above images, as well as this one, a wine cabinet that was published in Fine Woodworking a few years ago,

©David Hurwitz 2009
(It seems appropriate that waves/ripples would be a key element of a wine cabinet.)

David has a knack for creating lightness and movement with big, thick pieces of wood. He has developed a style that is unique and identifiable as his own -- an important trait in trying to make a name for oneself. The work also seems to be as much sculpture as it is furniture.

Here is David -- I suppose most photographers would take a picture of him pretending to make something but I think this impromptu image may be more insightful:And this is where he works, one of the more upscale industrial parks scattered around Randolph, VT:

Interestingly, as I was wandering around his shop he told me about scoring some mighty fine lumber from the estate of Hugh Townley. Hugh's son was recently looking to sell his remaining inventory of very rare mahogany and other mysterious woods and the rumor of the impending sale made its way to David by chance. Look at this stuff! wormy mahogany that looks like it was devoured by a small snake!

Neither of us could identify the lump of wood on the bottom left, David just thought it was interesting and is planning to polish one side for a small sculptural table.

And a plank of mahogany that is about 24 inches wide! They aren't cutting trees like this any more.

The HT below was labeled by Hugh himself!

David says he hasn't bought or used mahogany since the mid-90's, partly due to its endangered status, but since this stuff was cut long ago there didn't seem to be much harm by indulging. In addition, David was told that the next day someone was coming to buy the lot for trim molding! What a waste that would have been.

All designs and images Copyright 2009, David Hurwitz