Summer Inspiration

Okay, so it’s summer time, and I am working a design job, but sometimes I need more personal design inspiration and creation to keep my creative mind budding! One of my favorite things to do with my time off is build material palettes and keep up-to-date on product catalogs and design magazines.

I’m going to share a little bit about my palette building process! There are a couple ways I like to start a palette, this time let’s focus on: The Casual Pallete Build - Picking up a swatch you like and building from there. Usually I just flip through a bunch of materials until something catches my eye! Then I choose supporting and contrasting materials based off the colors and textures in my original swatch. I always throw in some neutrals. And usually the palette will organically grow this way. But sometimes I find a material that I think might look good with the palette I’ve started and it turns out it doesn’t work, so I put it to the side to start a new palette. When I build palettes this way I end up simultaneously creating a bunch of different palettes, as I pick up materials I like and start grouping them into themes I’ve started, sometimes this results in half a dozen palettes! It’s a great casual way to get inspiration from pieces and just start creating without any boundaries!

If you’re yearning to get your hands on some materials to do an exercise like this, head over to the College of Design’s MRC, or the Design Resource Center in Springfield OR.

At the Maude

My trusty Hoek Chair was exhibited again! This time at the Maude Kerns Art Center Made for Interiors exhibition. I was honored to have my piece selected to be included in the exhibition along with dozens of talented local woodworkers and artists! I loved meeting the local woodworkers in the community and sharing inspiration chats over wine and cheese with them. There were two other student pieces included, and one professor’s work from our department. The quality and attention to detail I saw at this exhibit event was incredible! This Made for Interiors event happens annually, so next time it comes around be sure to apply or attend!

Metalwork as Muse

Check out the article by the School of Architecture & Environment on our furniture studio course from Winter term 2019!

They talk about the inspiration students got from their chosen metalwork objects from the Margo Grant Walsh metalwork collection at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Some of us focused on form, others on properties, some of us contrasted, and others replicated. I thought this approach to design, taking inspiration from an existing object, was really interesting! We still had creative freedom, but we had a foundation for our designs. The variety of material and furniture types created by my peers in the course was incredible! We used all types of woods, ash, walnut, birch, beech, plywood, pine, and probably more! Overall our class exhibited lounge chairs, dining chairs, storage boxes, wall shelves, mirror pieces, side tables, desks, plant stands, wheelbarrows, benches, and stools.

I’m so flattered they chose my piece as the thumbnail image for the article. Thanks SAE!

Jordan Schnitzer Exhibit

After 8 long weeks of designing and hand crafting our furniture pieces, they were displayed at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art on the University of Oregon’s campus. What a great turnout at the event! Thanks so much to Tom, Caroline, and Kevin for making this whole term of learning the craft possible.

I cannot express enough how much I learned about furniture design and construction by going through the entire design-build process. My favorite part of the process was troubleshooting construction and joinery, and then actually making the joinery happen by cutting each of pieces that fit into one another. While hand chiseling all of those joints took a huge toll on my wrists and a heck of a lot of time, I’d say the end product was well worth it. Creating a piece as beautiful as this with my very own hands is incredibly rewarding. And one of the best parts is getting to keep this piece in my home for the rest of its lifetime. I can’t wait to integrate this lounge chair in with the rest of my furniture.

Photos from the School of Architecture & Environment