good progress

It’s about time I posted another update about what has been happening and what I have done in my pursuit of producing some modern/minimalist furniture. I’m currently still making the console table based on the ‘cant’ side table series out of sapele. I have ordered the black acrylic top which will finish the piece so it’s just a case of finishing the wood, sanding and oiling it and then securing the top with a new system I have come up with which will hopefully provide a better cantilever solution. So that’s the main area of focus in trying to establish a collection of furniture that best shows off my design skills as well as my progression in making them and getting that quality and uniqueness. But as a lot of readers will know I don’t always concentrate on one project and I am now in the process of designing a new piece that has been in my sketchbooks for a while and having successfully found a piece of wood that will do it justice I can start making some mock-ups of the design and constructing it which for me is the best part.

  The wood I bought is called iroko, a wood I have not used before but the grain and straight ness appealed to me so I had to buy it, but I was worried when I read up about it on the internet and found out about the harmful effects of the dust it produces. Which I should have known about to be honest because all wood dust is dangerous but it certainly makes you think twice and realise that the simple (I call it simple) art of making furniture can be damaging to your health. (don’t tell my mum) so it is giving me a new found respect for the wood I buy and it will certainly make me use it differently now.

   But the problem comes in trying to find another piece of wood to compliment it (there’s a clue to the design) which I know will not be cheap and easy, maybe I should have pared down the first selection of wood but I have set myself a challenge and know the outcome will be worth it. So in my pursuit for a piece of wood I have discovered a new wood yard very local to me which I know will prove to a gold mine in the future and this just fuels my desire and creative ideas further, so I feel the summer months will be very experimental and hopefully profitable. 

  Apart from that, that’s all the making I am doing at the moment and so I continue to try and improve my photography skills to get some better shots of my designs for the various websites I am on.  I am still trying to find some local markets where I could sell my designs so if anyone knows of any that would be great but the slog continues promoting my designs but the passion is still there and that’s the important thing. When I see one piece of wood somewhere it does excite me (sounds weird) but that’s where the passion and creativity comes from, it’s very important.