I always had a vision to create a piece that was based on a 3D grid of carefully selected veneered panels.
There was an opportunity to see it realized during the initial chicken scratch period of this project. I jumped on it and starting snapping the design to a grid based on ~10" x 10" panels. In the end, it wasn't too hard to design a piece that was proportionally pleasing within this confine. Making the piece accurately was not as easy. It needed to be devoid of any distracting graphics in the grain, no hesitations, just a translation of the core idea using beautiful wood. Oh, and it had to be rock solid too of course. And, it had to get around a corner and down the stairs.
The square panels are curly maple. They wrap around 3 sides of each of the 3 cabinets. On the side of each cabinet are 4 panels that came from a piece of veneer ~40" long. They are arranged with every other panel being turned 90 degrees. This gives the piece a natural holographic checkerboard effect from just the rotation of the grain. Very simple in concept, and part of why it's so pleasing to walk by as the finely polished grain pulses under clear coats of lacquer. On the center section, there are 3 sets of the 4-panel grid, making a total of 11 grids coming from the same stack of veneer, all in sequence from left to right. There's a fine 1/8" shadow line separating the panels from each other and from the surrounding solid dark cherry framework and top surfaces. At the bottom of each 1/8" channel is a black surface to help define the depth of the grid.
The center unit is designed to support a flat screen TV, with a ventilated compartment underneath for surround components etc. The deep drawers are all on full extension silent sliders. The levelers imbedded into the legs turned out to be quite necessary on the wonky floor, but it all lined up perfectly.
A woodworking psychiatrist would have a good time with this one I bet; such a strict geometric design, such organic materials. I'm sure I could come up with some super artsy metaphor, some ying / yang thang maybe, but I'll leave that for the critics to conjure up. My client was also thrilled with the outcome, and we've got other fish to fry now.
There was an opportunity to see it realized during the initial chicken scratch period of this project. I jumped on it and starting snapping the design to a grid based on ~10" x 10" panels. In the end, it wasn't too hard to design a piece that was proportionally pleasing within this confine. Making the piece accurately was not as easy. It needed to be devoid of any distracting graphics in the grain, no hesitations, just a translation of the core idea using beautiful wood. Oh, and it had to be rock solid too of course. And, it had to get around a corner and down the stairs.
The square panels are curly maple. They wrap around 3 sides of each of the 3 cabinets. On the side of each cabinet are 4 panels that came from a piece of veneer ~40" long. They are arranged with every other panel being turned 90 degrees. This gives the piece a natural holographic checkerboard effect from just the rotation of the grain. Very simple in concept, and part of why it's so pleasing to walk by as the finely polished grain pulses under clear coats of lacquer. On the center section, there are 3 sets of the 4-panel grid, making a total of 11 grids coming from the same stack of veneer, all in sequence from left to right. There's a fine 1/8" shadow line separating the panels from each other and from the surrounding solid dark cherry framework and top surfaces. At the bottom of each 1/8" channel is a black surface to help define the depth of the grid.
The center unit is designed to support a flat screen TV, with a ventilated compartment underneath for surround components etc. The deep drawers are all on full extension silent sliders. The levelers imbedded into the legs turned out to be quite necessary on the wonky floor, but it all lined up perfectly.
A woodworking psychiatrist would have a good time with this one I bet; such a strict geometric design, such organic materials. I'm sure I could come up with some super artsy metaphor, some ying / yang thang maybe, but I'll leave that for the critics to conjure up. My client was also thrilled with the outcome, and we've got other fish to fry now.
