Fine Furniture and Woodworking Festival in Woodstock, Vermont

A bunch of Guild members spent the weekend in Woodstock at the Fine Furniture and Woodworking Festival on Sept 25 and 26.   We had a group booth that included work of around 15 members and a handful of members also has their own booths at the show.   At this point it is hard to say if the show was a financial success or not.  Selling furniture is different from selling scarves and such as usually there is some back and forth before a sale of furniture is made.

 For me, the opportunity to chat with members and other furniture makers and woodworkers was well worth the effort to do the show.  We spend so much time on our own that this can be a great opportunity to recharge the mental batteries.  Having the opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other over a couple of days is a great thing rather than through an email or short phone call. Mostly just laughing together.  Being a member of the Guild has financial reward for me by feeding customers to my website from the Guild site but has the even greater reward of community in an otherwise solitary endeavor.  Even though many of us are potential competitors, we actually have a good time when we get together.

Why be a member of the Guild of Vermont Furniture Makers? The Guild is great. Long live the Guild.

Thanks,

Tim 

Below are some shots of members and member's booths and our group booth.  These shots are taken during the quiet times at the show when I had a chance to leave my booth. (That is why there are so few extra people around)

David Hurwitz featured in his own work.

Janet Collins hard at work on some of her inlay work that she demonstrated at the show.

Janet's daughter, Lauren was a cheerful addition to the group.

Jim Becker

Bill Laberge had his own booth

David Hurwitz and Dan Mosheim

David Boynton helped man the Guild booth

Walt Stanley wondering where he left his shoes.

My (Timothy Clark's) shaving horse (center) that allowed me to demonstrate and get some work done.

Timothy Clark's booth

Janet Collins answering questions in her booth.

David Hurwitz's booth.  David , center, his dad , Art , right and winner of the Studio and Custom portion of the Design Comp,   Doug "sideboard" Clarner.

Jim Becker in his booth

Charlie Shackleton in his booth.

Walt Stanley's booth.

Janet Collins carving one of her turned bowls.

McGuire Family Furniture Maker's booth

Dave Boynton and Dan Mosheim in the Guild booth

Guild booth

Guild booth,  Kit Clark's chair center

Guild booth, Timothy Clark's bench.

Guild booth

Sheldon Museum Chair Talk

This week I gave a talk about the history of Windsor chairs and how that relates to my work.    The talk took place at Sheldon Museum in Middlebury, Vermont.  It is a great little museum, especially if you are into Windsors. They have a great collection and I was very inspired to come up with some new designs after revisiting some of these originals.  It has been over 10 years since I spent a lot of time at the Shelburne Museum, also in Vermont.  That was were  I found the inspiration for my Waltham line of chairs.   I have not given any presentations for many years so this was a bit nerve racking to get ready for but it was actually a lot of fun.  I hope to do more of this.  It can be very easy to hide out in my shop and not interact with the public. Especially in this time of the internet.

A Bit of Vacation

My son Ben and I are spending a week in the Adirondacks at my parents camp.  Today, in order to keep Ben away from the computer, he and I built a crude sailing ship from scraps.  He spent hours playing with it.  It actually sails quite well.  He is also doing his first solo sailing in the Sunfish. Very exciting.

A New Windsor Arm Chair

The chairs pictured above are New Waltham side and arm chairs.  I have already made a set or two of the New Waltham side chairs but I had not yet made a New Waltham arm chair.  You can see the arm chair on my website here.  The pictures on the site are not that great as I took them the night before delivery.  I generally photograph pieces in my shop with a lot of daylight but I had forgotten as I was very busy with childcare. Summer does get crazy around here and this summer has been extra crazy as my wife is now working full time.
Enjoy the summer.  It is flying by.
Take care,
Tim

Part 4- Final shots of my Windsor Chair with Table Surface

I am really not sure what to call this chair but I am pretty psyched about how it looks.  Especially this shot with the laptop.   This was the picture in my mind when I started to design the chair.  It really puts the laptop in a usable position and the silicone pad keeps the laptop secure from sliding. Let me know your thoughts on this one.
Thanks,
Tim

I am thinking about calling it the New Jeffersonian Windsor because Thomas Jefferson made the first swiveling Windsor chair and many other engineered gadgets.  It would not be far fetched to find something along these lines at Monticello.

Part 3- A Step Beyond Show Piece- Chair with Table

Here are a couple of quick shots of my new Chair w/Table.  The round table pivots from the outside of the arm to the inside of the arm.  The black surface is the removable non-skid silicone pad that I cast to fit the top.  The design has its roots in traditional windsor chairs with a writing surface but I wanted something a bit different.  The table could be used to write a short note but I see it more as a place to put a glass or snack and also a surface that could hold a laptop computer (with the use of the non-skid pad).

Part 2 Windsor Chair w/ Table for the "A Step Beyond" Show

This new chair design takes my New Waltham arm chair and adds a small table surface that will move from the outside to the inside of the right hand palm of the chairs arm.   I turned a cherry "candlestand" top for the table that will be a handsome surface but I wanted a non skid option.  To achieve this , I turned a corresponding mold piece in which I made a silicone pad with liquid silicone.  In the image above I am peeling the molded silicone out of the wooden mold.

Above, the pad is pictured in the finished top.   The nonskid nature of the pad keeps it from sliding around and it is a nice surface to keep a glass or mug from sliding also.  It can be easily taken off of the table and cleaned.   One of my first thoughts in coming up with this design was to create a surface that would hold a laptop computer without risk of it sliding around on the table top.
The metal parts are with the machinist now being finished up.  In a day or two, I should have the whole thing together.

Stay tuned,
Tim