Artistry in Wood 2014 by Show Chair Scott Clark
The Sonoma County Woodworkers Association opened its annual Artistry in Wood Exhibit to an enthusiastic audience on Friday evening, September 12th. Now in its 26th year at the Sonoma County Museum, the show’s stellar reputation attracts woodworking fans from along the entire West Coast as well as across the United States. This year’s entries came from as far north as Friday Harbor, Washington, and as far south as San Diego, California. The exhibited work expresses a broad range of styles and designs that display the diverse character of the craftsmen in this western region. This year’s exhibit consisted of 62 entries from 33 makers.
Before opening the doors for public view, the woodwork was judged for “Best of” within four categories of submission: Art, Furniture, Miscellaneous, and Woodturning. Additionally the coveted “Best of Show” award was selected, along with additional awards of “Excellence” to individual standout pieces.
Michael Cullen’s Chest for a New Idea received the Best of Show award. The category winners were: William Taft’s Leaves for Best Art piece; Casey Moffitt’s Madrone Sideboard for Best Furniture piece; Scott Clark’s Snake Charmer’s Tool Kit for Best Miscellaneous piece; and Lee Baker’s Black Box for Best Woodturning.
Chest for a New Idea was awarded the Best of Show. Cullen constructed the chest from field walnut off the property of George Washington’s Mt. Vernon estate in Virginia. The entire exterior is meticulously hand carved. The motif is designed with elements that represent the early American flag and Washington’s concept of uniting the colonies into a single unified nation. The piece’s title expressed Washington’s idea for the new country’s government.
Leaves, which received the award for Best Art piece, is more than just a skillful marquetry assembly. Constructed in three-dimensional relief, this work has physical depth and dimension beyond what traditional marquetry offers. Taft worked from a photograph he shot of maple leaves cascading down a tree. Using green poplar and other miscellaneous hardwoods, Taft cut, assembled, and carved the leaf panel from varying thicknesses of hand-sawn veneers.
Moffitt’s Madrone Sideboard, Best Furniture piece, is an exemplary display of understated elegance. Selecting a fine grained madrone for the primary construction, Moffitt included clean lines, elegant balance, and a delicate presence, along with a flawless assembly.
The Snake Charmer’s Tool Kit, Best Miscellaneous piece, is a playful presentation of an ancient Asian folk craft. This work features a basket-textured and lidded box with rising cobra handle, and a pungi, a double reed flute traditionally used by the Charmer to call the snake out. Clark constructed the Hollywood style pungi from a hollowed gourd and turned wood pipes. The snake basket, a turned box, is of hard maple and was textured using a heavy branding technique. The cobra is bent and carved oak.
Baker’s Black box, Best Woodturning, is an elegant set of four lidded boxes turned from African blackwood, cocobolo, and thuya burl. Their profiles and delicately textured surfaces are each individual, showing subtle variations in design. Yet all harmonize as a set. They beg for close examination.
Awards of Excellence went to Lee Baker for his Small Rocker; Hugh Buttrum for both his Short Stack, and Ginko box; Les Cizek for M.E.T.S.; Michael Cullen for Fossilized Feather; Anthony Leighton for Walnut Dining Chair; Donovan Miller for both A Fly On The Wall and Early Internal Combustion Engine; Robert Nelson’s Tribute to Ray Churchill; and Joshua Smith’s Display Case with Seven Facets. Each of these is an example of superb craftsmanship and original design.
The Artistry in Wood exhibit at the Sonoma County Museum runs through October 19th.
