What is the relationship of the artisan to nature? What is the artisan’s responsibility to nature? Guest blogger John P. Rose of Custom Furniture Creations discusses the philosophy that guides his craft:

Figured 3-D Cherry

The main philosophy of Custom Furniture Creations is to create unique furniture that blends the beauty of nature with hand-craftsmanship.  As a result, we have developed a special fondness for allowing nature to show itself in all of its grandeur.

Walnut with Sap Wood

Trees are a renewable resource that nature has given us to clean our air, anchor our soils, provide food and shelter for forest animals, and in its final stage to provide us with wood to build our homes and furniture.  However, some trees are special; something in their growth has made them uniquely pleasing to our eyes.  It becomes the responsibility of a skilled artisan to allow nature to “show us its stuff.”

Factories that produce furniture reject non-standard wood as scrap to create thousands of identical tables or dressers.  Only a skilled artisan has the love of nature and the ability to coach the grandeur and uniqueness out of wood, much like a sports coach or a mentor strives to bring out the potential within a person.

3-D Walnut and Cherry

The artisan merely becomes the facilitator for the wood, selecting special grains, colors, and textures from the wood that will complement the design of the furniture and leave a pleasing impression upon the human eye.  The result is often a work of art much more valuable than the sum of the labor and materials that went into the carefully sculpted wood creation.  Would anyone deny that the value of a Picasso is much greater than the cost of the paints and the labor that went into it?

Contrasting Woods

About Custom Furniture Creations

John P. Rose of Custom Furniture Creations in Ohio responsibly harvests, saws, and dries his own wood, which goes into the very special works of art that nature has provided for us. http://www.customfurniturecreations.com/

Artisans of the Valley, a member of CustomMade.com for the last 8 years was featured on EBRU-TV’s “Blank Canvas” – the second artist profile in Episode #4 at the link below.

Check it out if you get a chance – click this link, scroll down to the show icons below and pick Episode 4 to see the full video! (start at 12 minutes)

In the video, Eric points out that we are creating the antiques of tomorrow. The pressed board pieces of furniture that can be purchased at cheap furniture stores will never last long enough to be treasured keepsakes. This is a really wonderful video that helps explain the importance and history of keeping custom woodworking.

You can check out all of Eric’s work on our website at: http://www.custommade.com/gallery-profile.php?u=211