Some Definitions?

Well, let's see if I can do this without rufflin' too many feathers. I'm going to attempt to talk about some definitions because it may be important for those out looking for a furnituremaker who may also be somewhat confused by the different kinds of people who are making custom furniture. Actually there are differences that are critical in making decisions.

As for the ruffled feathers part, all of those folks out there making things are usually doing it for some passionate reason - or at least they were at one time. Those MBA graduates from U of Michigan normally aren't planning their lives around making furniture for a living, they are driven by some other muse, more like making a lot of money - won't find it here. With that in mind all of you other furnituremakers out there need to know I have a deep respect for your motivations choosing to do this 'making things' for a living thing, it's not easy, not all fun, and we're all a little different - kind of like people, huh?....

Let's talk about 'furnituremaking'. There are furniture designers, there are woodworkers, there are artisans, there are furniture artists. Whew, what's this all about and who cares? Well, it probably doesn't matter a lot to some but it might to others who are after something but don't know who they are talking to. I'm going to head into some sticky, messy territory here, but please know there are no clear distinctions, there is no place where one kind starts and another stops making it clear what they have to offer. So, I'll do a little with some generic descriptions. All of these groups do some of this and some of that and some do it all, but what I'm exploring here is more relative in terms of the initial motivations and training. Well, here goes, but I know I'm sticking my pretty shoes into some rather brown and smelly stuff....it's not my intention to make one kind look better or worser, just make intentions clear and how that might manifest itself in the kind of product that is produced.

"Woodworkers": Passionately driven, will do anything with wood and feel like they are a cabinetmaker when it's right, a furnituremaker when it's right, a finish carpenter, a carpenter, etc. They love working with wood and sometimes specialize at this or that and get very good at that specialization but probably aren't great at the others most likely because they haven't been trained to do so and haven't put the time in. You won't find me building a house any time soon, and if you do it certainly wouldn't be very efficient, more head scratching than work getting done. With the economy like it is right now I just might try to pass myself off as one of them - watch out.

"Furniture Designers": Usually had some education at a design school, probably more motivated at production with a profit motive. This where you'll find the trends happening in all of the current magazines. At those schools craftsmanship isn't generally considered at the forefront of intention, but they have an understanding of the history of furniture beginning in the mid 20th century with a clear description of that from a manufacturers perspective. They are familiar with the latest technologies and materials. The industry is about production, materials, and processes being paramount to the direction of this business model. Hand crafting is not held in the highest regard because it requires too much skill which is experiential, and just plain takes too much time to make. Wood can be an annoyance rather than a resource for aesthetics because it is so gall darned persnickity when it expands and contracts and you have to deal with things like matching grain and color differences from one tree to the next - why can't they just grow oak trees that are brown? Gimme a CNC machine and a piece of aluminum, stick some upholstery on it and call it good...and the money flows, right? Maybe.

[see it's getting messy, huh? Don't get me wrong I don't know how many times I would have taken a piece of aluminum over a chunk of maple that just wouldn't stay straight, no matter how many times I flattened it out. I can't help myself, let me digress for a minute with a little story of my own history. I was a young art student at San Francisco State back in the early 70's, full of myself like most art students, who had a curiosity about everything to make. SF State had a seperate school in Industrial Design- actually a very good program. That was a world I had no concept of. It was run by a barrel of a guy named Dr. John Kasay, not the warm and fuzzy sort I was used to over in the Art Dept (we were a bunch of spoiled coddled kids MAKING HIGH ART, I mean we were "Painters and Sculptors", but don't tell anyone I said that). The ID students were more like Marines, they knew their tools and their materials and their processes. I don't think we would have stood arm in arm together in the protests with S.I. Hayakawa at the time (SF State/Viet Nam, you know?). Anyway, a guy named Arthur Espenet Carpenter had a crafts guild in Bolinas and he was one of those people in the 60's and 70's who headed off on his own tangent and started making furniture that didn't look like amoebas or Scandinavian stuff - know what I mean?- well Art was asked to come over to SF State and do a combined class with the ID students and the Art students. My gooness that first day was interesting. Here was 6 guys looking at 6 guys without the slightest thread of recognition, circling, sizing each other up wondering what language the other spoke but sure as hell wouldn't sit next to one of 'them'. As for me, I was of course above all of that and proceeded to assume I knew what was the truth, the first day I found out the truth. One thing I learned was you don't get one of those electronic glue gun thingies too close to your midsection or you won't have any kids, among other bad results not related to furniture making... Well, it was one of my more informative years in school -Art made those other guys make tables that looked like "leaves" and such, and made guys like me make tables that stayed together without invoking the name of Jesus or Gracie Slick. I made a table that only had one leg and required a wall to lean on. In the end we all ended up friends and learned an extraordinary amount of life and 'woodworking' from each other. Art Carpenter has passed on now (we stayed in touch now and then, what a great guy). Don't know about Dr Kasay, but you should be able to find out a lot about Art, turned out he was a pretty famous guy in the world of artisan makers around the world (Bolinas Craft Guild). Kasay turned out to be a great teacher and even wrote the definitive book on Shaker furniture and it's relationship to their religious philosophy - a beautiful book and the first of its kind in the 70's, no one had heard of Shaker furniture in those days.]

But back to business.

"The Artisan": Might have studied at School of the Redwoods or North Bennet Street School, that sort of place, or read Fine Woodworking magazine cover to cover every month (that was my training). It's all about the CRAFT, an admiration for the love of working wood, hand work, and joinery at a very high level of expertise (for me it's a pain the waddyacallit at times, one of those necessary evils like castor oil). Here in Portland, Oregon we have Gary Rogowski at Northwest Woodworking School doing a wonderful job of passing on this skill that is fast dying off. It is pure passion, the driven need to make something well by hand. To learn all aspects of wood and it's vagueries and frustrations. A lust for the next gorgeous piece of figured wood and how to make it be gentle and compliant in your hands rather than a bucking and screaming young stallion with places to go.

"The Furniture Artist": Now here's an interesting sort. Whatever happened to sitting on a chair to rest your bones, or setting the table for dinner? Isn't that enough? Nah. They gotta shake things up. Gotta have FUN, make you THINK if you're gonna do it. A "15 Minute Chair", are you kidding? Their aspirations are The Museum of Modern Art! Well, except they'd also like you to buy it because their spouse is on their back to pay the rent. Oh, and so they can make another one. With the advent of internet communication they were finally able to establish an immediate ready made network of people all over the world. It was pretty amazing watching (and of course I have to admit I inhaled). It actually had roots going back to the mid century but was really a bunch of individual maverick types doing it all by themselves. Wharton Esherick, George Nakashima fit in as well. Later (60's) came Sam Maloof, Art Carpenter, but I think it was Wendell Castle who really kicked butt and inspired folks to take chances in a more provocative rather than just a beautiful way. Plenty of others along the way, mostly on the East Coast but out here in the West we had the "ORGANICS". I was one of them in the 70's - sure had a lot of fun. The movement ended up a with lot of milk paint and found objects like old truck springs and over sized screws - things moved and went in the wrong direction a lot. I kind of labeled it as the "milk paint, make me smile" stuff. Pretty much centered around the Furniture Society, a wonderful orgnization that has conferences around the country and Canada each year. I was a member early on, I was pretty hungry for interaction and excited to see who was doing what next.

But I didn't completely fit in to their descriptive very well (I refused to use milk paint...altho I finally did a wonderful desk last year for a client and used milk paint! but keep it to yourself it will ruin my image), but I don't really fit in any of the other categories of furniture makers completely either. I find interest in all of it, and incorporate all of it at one time or another into my designs as long as I satisfy my reverence for the beautiful object - it can be fun, it can be conceptual, doesn't always require functionality, but for me it must pay respect to an historical narrative, an awareness of the history of why furniture design started out a long time ago as a rock or a fallen log that needed a little berry juice and ended up where we are today.

Enough for today.

better slide show available

After going to all of this work to get these slide shows up and running I realize they are pretty dismal in size so you can't really see anything. If you are interested I'll send you a link to a better quality Quicktime video. If you send me an email directly (info@terrybostwickstudio.com), I'll send you a better show. In the meantime someone told me I can do a Youtube video, but I have to learn how for future slideshows, etc., this will have to do while I'm learning.

I went to a gallery opening last night for a friend who was having a show of his wonderful photography (here's a link to his website: www.kenhochfeld.com). It was fun seeing his work again up on the wall, we shared many years and many ideas as young artists in San Francisco - we also together began our exploration in furnituremaking in those days as a sideline passion which obviously grew into careers for both of us (here's a link to his cabinet shop website: www.rosemontdesigngroup.com). My main interest in those days was in painting, drawing and conceptual art, but more on that in another posting in the future.

I've digressed from what I started to tell you about. At the opening I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in many years who proceeded to tell me how much he's enjoyed checking out my work on my website (and the blog) from time to time but that he was bored with reading the same postings that remained from more than a year ago without change. HMMM. So here I sit today trying to get myself back to what I thought was a good idea at the time, blogging about my work, but my distractions sort of took over my best interests. But I'm back now, let's try this again.

Another thing I realized was that Blogspot isn't always consistent in letting me know if someone has tried to comment on the blog - I am supposed to get a message at my email that there is a request for a new comment, I found that some never came thru to me. So if you try to send one my way and I don't respond it is because I didn't get the notice and I haven't gone through the rigamarole of checking back after signing in to see if anyone has commented. Bear with me, I'm not one who spends his life blogging.

So today I'm posting two new posts (this is the second) on a little of the process of what I do. It's not meant as a tutorial as such rather it's a quick look at some of the steps it takes to design a new chair or how veneering is done.

Chairs have been a wonderful exploration for me, it wasn't enough to design and build the typical custom furniture, I found I had a need for the challenge of not only learning how to build a very fine chair but a serious exploration of ergonomics, and of course pursuing my need for new designs and ideas. Along the way I think I've probably designed and built 30-40 new chair designs - many of which were for the express purpose of matching a table design commission. It's no small effort, it's actually very involved developing a new chair but has really been a wonderful part of my life as a furniture designer/maker. The chair pic shown for this posting is a variation using some of my graphic work (see the SLAB section of the website for more of this graphic work).

The veneer slideshow is for the Pacific Heights Dining Table on my website for your reference.

Slideshow of Moderne Dining Chair Process

Link to OPB TV Oregon ArtBeat

I thought you readers might enjoy this link to OPB's educational section of their website. These stories are used as educational tools for schools. I am very fortunate to have been selected for this segment on Oregon ArtBeat. I worked with a wonderful crew who made me feel comfortable having a camera in my face wondering how I might come off. It's a number of years old now and reflects the time it was done, but is pretty informative of how my process and thinking goes. Hope you enjoy it. Copy and paste address, I thought it would be an automatic link but it didn't work (still learning how to do this):

http://www.opb.org/programs/artbeat/segments/view/180?q=Terry+Bostwick

I've also been asked a number of times for a photo of myself, so thought I'd use this as an opportunity to show me hard at work...

Spec vs. Commission

While visiting my site it may be a little confusing as to what it is you’re looking at. Some of the work is speculative. This work is where I am exploring new ideas and filling out a “style”, to give you all a more broad view of that thematic thinking. Not only does this give me an opportunity to experiment but it gives potential clients the opportunity to use this styling and project and translate into a new piece, or set of furniture that is needed for their home or other space. It also gives me an opening to not be bound by anyone else’s expectations, I’m free to use this as a form of personal expression.

Many of these pieces are still for sale. Please ask if interested in something you see.

This of course leads to the commissioned work. My speculative pieces aren’t always the perfect piece needed - sometimes it’s too big, too small, a table instead of a bed, a chair instead of table, too green, too black, too many bumps (too Gothic…? not my intention by the way.) You want a whole dining set or a stool based on one unusual chair - you get the idea. But there are details, or a flavor, something about the design that turns you on with a piece I’ve made (see the chair image at top). Can I design a whole bedroom from a sideboard, or even one little element on that sideboard? Of course, that is what I do. The dining set above came from a Manhattan client's interest in the chair shown above. The commissions you see on my website almost always have come from a conversation and have developed from something the client had seen me do.

Not only does it satisfy my clients, but it also offers me new ideas I hadn’t considered before - it’s all a continuum of thought, a progression of ideas stemming back 30+ years. Once in awhile my client surprises me and comes in with an idea of their own, something I haven’t considered before and it totally turns me on and sets me off on a whole new direction. That can be lot of fun, too, but it can also put me in the awkward position of having to say that just won’t work…The fun for you is that you are not bound by a set line of furniture. You too, are free to explore and fantasize about how your room will change. It is a real pleasure for me to have the confidence of a return client, now a collector, who gives me the freedom to come up with something new - the ’surprise me’ factor, just because it has made a difference in their life.

THIS IS FURNITURE?!

This is furniture? Sure, except for some wayward pieces (more on this later), what you see is fully functional furniture. It’s not what most people are looking for, or needing, when they shop at Ikea, or Ethan Allen, or your Interior Designers catalog, or even what you might find at a craft fair, or most galleries. I’m not interested in Modernism, Shaker, or Craftsman styling, I love all these styles and many more, but there are a multitude of woodworkers around doing that sort of work.

I have minimal design interest in a beautifully grained piece of wood (even though I will use it if it is appropriate and enhances the particular design at hand, but it is not the basis for my designs), nor dovetails and other typical woodworker details. Through the years I have done all of that kind of work. I am more interested in a ‘fully realized’ design, unique to my thinking. My “style” changes over time and I am not interested in working in current studio furniture trends - I’ll use paint or found objects, but only when it fits my idea (I'm doing a painted desk right now, pics later as I get farther along). I do use traditional techniques and materials in ways both standard, and the unorthodox when it is appropriate to my intent. I also introduce new materials and new techniques I have developed, and use new technologies whenever I can. I’m more interested in getting my ideas out there than in the ‘doing’, I’ve been at this a long time and the romance of ‘doing’ went away a while back. The process is necessary and I am unfortunately bound by a determination to demand excellent craftsmanship always, but my satisfaction is in the idea and the end result.

What I offer, and am very fortunate to be able to design and sell, is a very personal approach to design. I work thematically, following a design train of thought; even conceptually, tweaking and reworking expectations and willing to provoke and make people smile and wonder at the piece, rather than just sit on it. I believe in graceful lines with an architectural awareness, and an ever constant effort to explore unique, creative design to the fullest. And, yes, I believe in comfort, structural integrity and functionality.

I do not come from the Industrial Design perspective which adheres most eloquently to budget and profit. Instead, I’m on a search, I have a story to tell. I respond more to environmental intrigue - what’s going on around me. With the commission work I am aware and sensitive to my potential clients lifestyle and desires, but I try to maintain a personal integrity to what I come up with. That’s not to say that I don’t grow and learn from each client I meet, I do, but you probably won’t get me to do edgebanded kitchen cabinets, unless……what if I….? (nah, just kidding)

Introduction

Welcome to Terry Bostwick Studio. If you’re new to my work and this site, I hope you like what you see. Communication is important to me, and my latest efforts to reach out to prospective clients, other artists, furniture makers and crafts people of all kinds is this blog. I look forward to addressing topics important to anyone that makes art or has an interest in the works of artists here in Portland and of course anywhere in the world. I receive so many inquiries from all over the world, I’m still amazed at this communication tool, the Internet.

Recently it came to my attention that people had approached this website and found the work here intriguing, beautiful, provocative, or even controversial. Some of these people confided to me that there was an intimidation factor which kept them from finding out more about buying this work or work like it. Some were even reluctant to approach me to just ask questions for fun about who I am and what this is all about. I’ll try to talk about the commission process for those wondering, and even fill you in on projects that are in progress.

I realized this was a great opportunity to create a discussion forum, a web log, where I could talk a little about this work and about me. What I would like to do is make it a dialog that you can participate in as well. So please feel free to respond, react, ask questions about anything related to this website, or your interests. Your questions should open up ideas for me to talk about as well, hopefully I’ll give you answers, provoke new thoughts for you, but more than anything make it more comfortable to interact with me. Because human nature strikes on occasion I have to use the editing tools to weed out stuff that just isn't appropriate - or nice. So try to be nice, I'm just trying to make the world a little more interesting than it was yesterday.

I know some people spend their lives at the computer, but I need to spend most of my time in the studio making furniture. So be a little patient with me if I don’t respond right away, I’ll try to get back with my response as soon as I can. And if nothing else thank you for visiting, enjoy the site and feel free to provoke my thoughts - I want to know your ideas as well. If you would prefer to talk to me directly, or without the whole world watching...send me an email, or a phone call (contact page). Thanks again for taking the time! Terry