I can honestly say that I am pleased to present my completed final project from Inside Passage. The F_01 chair is by far the most difficult piece of furniture that I have ever built. The design for this easy chair was inspired by Aprro’s “JKF” chair. The F_01 is made from solid Kwila wood woven with Danish cord for the seat and backrest.

In this case the Danish cord is a full wrap which runs the weave on both the upper and lower side of the seat, as well as the front and back of the backrest. Normally weaving a seat with Danish cord involves using t-nails on the lower part of the seat. This allows for hooking of each weave of the cord underneath the seat, which simplifies the process because only one layer/side of weaving is needed.

The only significant difference between a traditional wrap and a full wrap is the aesthetics and time. I figure it took me 10 days, 8 hours per day to wrap the seat and back.

The F_01 measures: 27.5H x 22W x 31D

links:
  + Fine Woodworking: Danish cord video
  + Wikipedia: Kwila
  + Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking
  + Aprro

After completing the few months of fundamentals at Inside Passage I was eager to start my first independent project. The project began with a rough start, but what was a headache at the beginning turned out to give me the freedom to improvise and change this project as it went along. This box was originally intended to be a small desktop music sheet stand/holder. On the first day milling of the Sapele wood turn out to be problematic. Even though the wood was dry and ready to be used, because wood is naturally tense, every piece warped after being cut into on the band-saw. The result was a weeks worth of chasing it with a hand-plane and in the end a smaller project.

Three different kinds of wood were used for this box: Sapele for the sides and the frame of the lid, Tiger Myrtle for the split panel in the lid and Natural Pear for the box bottom. After hand-planing the Sapele wood for days, planing the Natural Pear was heavenly. A special thank you to Robert Van Norman for the gift of the Tiger Myrtle.

links:
  + Sapele
  + Tiger Myrtle
  + Wikipedia: Pear
  + Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking

The beginning of the craftsman program at Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking teaches the fundamentals of woodworking. This covers everything form machine/shop safety, milling of wood, tool making (hand planes) and maintenance, joinery, hardware, coopered doors, marquetry and inlay, dovetails …. etc. The list is truly endless.

The this part of the program has a fast and steep learning curve. It is impressive that the schools main instructor Robert Van Norman can take a student without any prior woodworking experience, such as myself, and have them complete their own wall-hung Wabi-Sabi cabinet within couple of months. Even though the students are all following the same instructions, there is enough freedom for students to add their own touch to make each Wabi-Sabi unique.

The Wabi-Sabi cabnet measures: 14.5H x 7W x 3.75D

Some additional Inside Passage bloggers:
  + Michael Andrews
  + Ian Crosby
  + Lord Godfrey
  + Barbara Shelton
  + Daisuke Tanaka

This year Inside Passage School of Fine Woodworking will have their end of the year show held at:

Kozai Designs
May 15 – May 29, 2010
Opening reception: Saturday, May 15th, 1-5 pm
1515 West 6th Ave. Vancouver.
604.667.8166

A week earlier the Inside Passage will also hold another Open House:

Saturday, May 8th, 1pm-5pm
1055 Roberts Creek Rd
Sunshine Coast, BC
877.943.9663

Links:
  + Inside Passage School
  + Kozai Modern

Inside Passage School of Fine Cabinetmaking in Roberts Creek, BC is holding its annual Christmas Open House this Saturday between 1:00 – 5:00 PM. You’re invited to visit the school’s shop and view this year students’ first term projects as they are being worked on.

Links:
  + Inside Passage School
  + Resident Craftsman
  + Google Maps

Just a very short post and plug for Mr. Jeff Briggs who has recently updated his web site with his latest work. Four new paintings from 2009 and nine great works form 2008. Viewable work on the site dates back to 2003. The above work entitled Envelope Filter is from 2008.

The only question now is, how to get this painting or any other one of Jeff’s paintings hanging on my wall.

Links:
  + www.jeffbriggs.com
  + www.carriehaddadgallery.com

A minor revamp and update Kathryn Parker Almanas’s site is now complete…
The new Spellato images are up, as well as an additional section of New Work.

For a further look: www.kathrynparkeralmanas.com

The trend is definitely not just seen in Ikea, but now it seems that every furniture and design shop is peddling the latest plywood designs. The rebirth and appeal plywood design is obvious; its clean and organic lines, simple joinery and (theoretically) it’s at a minimal cost. Who couldn’t resist an Eames knock-off chair in their living room?

Bent Ply – The Art of Plywood Furniture (2003) by Eric Pfeiffer and Dung Ngo is a fantastic little book devoted to the history of plywood in modern design. The book spans from the earliest uses of wood veneers, through the Industrial Revolution, to design today, covering everything from how plywood is made to how it is molded into furniture. A detailed look into the making of the Wave Desk is explained from begining stages of harvesting and selecting the trees in Eastern Europe to the final stages molding and finishing of the plywood in Italy. The contributions to plywood design by Alvar Aalto, Michael Thonet, and Charles and Ray Eames is clearly explained and illustrated. But of equal importance is the presentation of this book; incased in an extremely striking hardcover made from plywood itself.

This past summer Sarah Sudhoff’s new site was launched to coincide with her images being published in a July issue of New York Times magazine. Sarah’s site contains five bodies of work (photography and video), plus one section with her commissions.

Sarah also writes regularly on her artist blog: http://www.sarahsudhoff.blogspot.com.

To see more of Sarah’s work please visit: www.sarahsudhoff.com.

Set backs and the chaos of living in Poland are to thank for the never ending delays in launching the two following sites. Although still needing a few minor touches, the sites are up and runing. Here are the two new sites:

JK Fotografia:   Jakub Karwowski and Joanna Kowalczuk, two young Polish artists located in Krakow, offering their commercial photographic services. Weddings, portraiture, stags and more.

Michal Kowalczuk:   Creator of complex mechanical drawing machine. Computer programmer by profession, an artist at heart.