This weeks guest blogger is David Johnson of Sidecar Furniture.   An accomplished craftsman, David is also a member of LA Box Collective, a select group of professional Los Angeles based furniture makers, committed to environmentally conscious design and production.

To look at my furniture it’s obvious that I like Danish Modern.  When we create we can’t help but let our influences show.  Our work is a compilation of what we see and our imaginations.  Certainly as a furniture maker I’m going to be influenced by the aesthetics of the styles of the past but I’m also going to draw upon why these furniture styles can to be.

I went to The College of the Redwoods Fine Woodworking Program, in Mendocino, CA.  The school is known for teaching a high attention to detail and balance and symmetry in design based on the work of James Krenov, Jim, as he’s known to the students.  The program is set up like a European apprentice system where students start with the basics and then make pieces under the watchful eye of the instructors.  Students must have their designs approved by Jim.  Any deviation from his design sense may be dealt with by his sharp criticism.  Rebellion is mild but highly noticed.  It’s funny to look at the pieces I made during school to know that they were controversial at the time. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m so excited to introduce this  weeks guest blogger, David Johnson of Sidecar Furniture!  An accomplished craftsman, David is also a member of LA Box Collective, a select group of professional Los Angeles based furniture makers, committed to environmentally conscious design and production.

David: Being an independent furniture designer/maker is no easy job. Comparing artisan or locally made furniture to IKEA or the Pottery Barn is like comparing apples and oranges. I often encounter people who question and often frown upon my time consuming methods and prices. We are so used to seeing and buying furniture made by big manufacturers that it becomes hard for one to appreciate quality, hand crafted, heirloom furniture. Rather than reading a blog entry about me defending myself and my craft, I decided to have my wife write a blog about her love of artisan furniture from the perspective of an outsider who is now a big fan of artisan made furniture. Read the rest of this entry »

For our final post on Japanese craft, let’s take a look at the beautiful art of carpentry.

Japanese carpentry is known for its complex system of joinery, crafted entirely by hand.

The tools used to work the wood are as artful as the furniture they are used to produce.  Unlike western carpentry tools, Japanese saws and planes are designed to cut on the pull stroke, rather than on the push.  One advantage to this is that the saw blades can be thinner, and therefore make finer cuts, but the technique takes quite awhile to master. Read the rest of this entry »

For the second in our series on Japanese artisan crafts, we will take a look at the 1,400 year old tradition of washi, or Japanese handmade paper.

Brought to Japan in 610 AD by Buddhist monks, the art of washi making spread across Japan, till by the late 1800’s, over 100,000 families were employed in the craft.  However, once European mechanical papermaking techniques were introduced, the number of washi makers rapidly declined, until it hit a low of only 479 families in 1983.

Image via Precious Pieces

These remaining families have worked hard to maintain the traditions of their craft, and some artisans are considered to be national treasures of Japan.

It is the beauty of the paper though, that has given washi a new life in the world of interior design. Read the rest of this entry »

For centuries, artisans in India have created the most beautiful hand embroidery.

In recent years however, the artisans who have learned this skill for generations no longer had enough demand to continue their craft.  The advent of cheap, machine embroidery has left many with little choice but to find another livelihood.

Thankfully, in 2005 Afshan Durani, founder of Lost City, set out to revive this vanishing art form. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes, when we shoot off an email asking for more information and images from someone, what we get back leaves me nearly breathless.

Rowland and Chinami Ricketts are truly artists in indigo.  Apprenticing under master dyers and weavers in Japan, they have learned how to make amazingly beautiful, natural fiber textiles. Read the rest of this entry »

One of my fondest memories from childhood was visiting my Grandmother Jean’s home in Alabama.  A talented architect, she had designed her house with plenty of character, including a living room where a large pine tree grew up from the floor, and right through a hole in the roof.  It was pure magic to a girl of nine.  Every once in a while a squirrel would squeeze through the weatherizing that circled the tree, climbing down for a looksie.  Next to this tree was a window seat, where I would spend hours curled up, reading stories like “A Secret Garden”, imagining how I would one day have my own home where the outside was invited in.

If I ever do build that home of my imagining, I will ask artist Laura Spector to make me a stairway as enchanting as this one she created for the Singer Home in Pound Ridge, New York. Read the rest of this entry »

If you are in the Los Angeles area in the next few weeks, and you love artisan furniture as much as I do, you will not want to miss this show at New Puppy Gallery!  Featuring the work of many accomplished local furniture makers, reduxiture is concieved as a place to “see how to responsibly and elegantly furnish your home with reused materials”.

Just look at some of the great pieces that will be there:

Brandon Morrison - Light