New Work

I'm busy rushing to get some of the pieces I've been working on ready for the Baltimore Fine Furnishing Show that I'm going to May 2 and 3. Getting these pieces from almost finished to finished is extremely frustrating. The worst part about it is that when I start the polishing process I always find mistakes that weren't noticeable before and have to be fixed before finishing the polish. With these epoxy pieces I've found many small gaps/holes that were invisible before but as soon as a polish is applied they become glaring craters. In many cases, while filling these craters, I've had to rub the color out, resulting in having to go back and repaint once the holes are filled.

It is nice though, when I get close to finished and I can see what I have been striving for. The depth of the figure with a french polish finish on top is just ethereal, and when I begin to see it, I have to stop and just stare.

I have gotten close enough on a number of new pieces that I have added the hanging mortises. Here are the ones that are closest, along with tentative titles.

Horst and Graben 10.5" x 28" x 1"

May Rain
29" x 12" x 1"

Untitled
26" x 11" x 1"

Green Grass - Summer Day 26" x 11" x 1"

I included an image of the one above a few weeks ago (image below) and didn't like it much. I took out the blue sections and added blue to the yellow sections. I like it much better now.

Likewise, I made a number of changes to the one below but still don't like it. I think I'll just take all the color out and start over, but not until I get back from Baltimore.

15" x 11" x 1"

It is better than it was (below) but could be better. The problem is I just don't like any of the colors. Some ugly colors would probably be good but all ugly colors is just ugly.

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

An Official "Industrial Alcohol User Permit" Holder

After a 6 week application process and many hours of research, I finally have an Industrial Alcohol User Permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Now I can legally purchase 10 gallons of high quality denatured alcohol (95% ethanol/5% isopropanol) from Pharmco. Just in time too - I had bought 3 quarts of Behkol a few weeks ago to hold me over and I'm already down to about a half a quart.

Work in Progress

I have started painting the new work and polishing some of the work that I started a couple of months ago. I'm pretty happy with how the fault piece (below) is coming along although I'm probably going to tone down the colors a little more as I polish it (adding some brown tones).


And I really like how the circle pieces are looking. I'm going to keep the circle sections clear on both of them.

With this striped piece I'm experimenting with two black stripes. Not sure about it yet. There is a fine line between making it identifiably black and completely covering the grain. I want the viewer to still see the curls and grain pattern. It might work, not sure yet.

And I've painted the hole piece (cut from the one above) as I said earlier, with a gradation of color. I think it is coming along but could be darker red in the middle and a little more orange gradation needed. The figure in this wood is just spectacular.
I was struggling with this piece until I decided to add a red rectangle. I like it now.

And I like how these two "Mondrian-esque" pieces are evolving. I like the balance of beautiful with hideous colors. I'm finding that a good level of hideousness is good for a painting. A hideous color isn't really hideous next to a beautiful color, and a beautiful color becomes more interesting next to a hideous one. Together they are definitely better than on their own.

And even if people do mention Mondrian too much when seeing these pieces, at least they have different colors than he used and they include interesting grain patterns/coloration.


But these two I'm still struggling with. This small one has an imbalance of hideous colors but I'm not sure how to make it better yet.

And this one just isn't very interesting yet. There might just be too much color in both of them. I would consider adding a couple of black rectangles, but there are already a lot of black in them. I might remove color from some sections. Not sure yet.

Jessica Straus @ Boston Sculptors Gallery

When I was in Boston last week I was lucky to happen across Jessica Straus's show, Fittings and Findings, at the Boston Sculptors Gallery just as she was finishing the installation (she was mopping the floor and was kind enough to let me dirty it up again before it dried).

The show was a complete surprise because I hadn't heard of her before and didn't have any expectations. I was immediately taken with her combination of found objects and painted wood (basswood) carvings.

I really love her "Industrial Widget" series where she integrates these hand-carved spheres with objects of mysterious history to create an entirely new (and believable) object.

"Yoke Red Spiral"

©Jessica Straus

"Red Spiral" (30 spheres!)

©Jessica Straus

"Boing" (29 spheres!)

©Jessica Straus

"Boing" close-up

©Jessica Straus

I find these spheres fascinating, especially because of the hand carved aspect, hundreds of carving marks included. How many cuts does it take to carve a sphere? How do you carve a sphere? How long does it take to carve a sphere? I suppose it is a very meditative process, especially when you have hundreds of these things to carve (I didn't have time to count them all, but there were probably over 300 spheres in the show). You just have to love them (as the Jessica must).

And then there is the "Red Dress" series, a story-book like series of Jessica's basswood painted alter ego(?) encountering and conquering a world of dangerous found objects (often old kitchen tools).

"End"

©Jessica Straus

"Surveying the Yard"

©Jessica Straus

"Balance"

©Jessica Straus

She is gets herself in trouble a lot but with "daring-do" she seems to have the confidence to get herself out of any mess she may find herself in. There is a story in each piece, and you really want to cheer for her. I think a series of them would make for a great children's book, or better yet, a picture book where you can write your own story.

She also had Game Boards, Ball Organizers, and Jointed Segment series on display. All of them are a healthy combination of whimsy and controlled lunacy. Her work is successful in doing what art should do, helping the viewer to see the world differently and taking the viewer to a different place.
Not surprisingly, Jessica has an impressive resume. She has shown her in a number of museums, including the DeCordova and the Fuller Craft, and is also represented by the Clark Gallery in Lincoln, MA; so it was a little disappointing to see such "reasonable" prices on the work. Boy, it must be hard to make a living as an artist.