furniture with personality

by Pat Morrow

        Meet studio furniture - one-of-a-kind, custom pieces produced in a studio environment on a small scale by an artist who both designs and executes the piece. Some makers choose to look at furniture as functional, others look at it as an expression of the past, and some as conceptual and artistic. While the styles of these craftspeople may vary widely, all share a devotion to quality, originality and perfection, producing works that will endure the passage of time. The makers DNA in each piece is clear — no one else would have made it.

The idea that furniture can have a personality as individual as its maker has been a trademark of this field since the first group of self-taught practitioners worked in the early 20th century. American studio furniture craftsman, Wharton Esherick introduced sculptural furniture to America in the 1950’s and is considered the father of this movement. In the second half of the 20th century, a second group of woodworkers emerged from a new training ground – America’s colleges. Wendell Castle, one of the most influential furniture makers of our time, said “One of the things that I had in mind from the very beginning when I decided I was going to make furniture,... that I wanted to have my furniture have the same sort of appeal, the same sort of power, the same kind of importance, that painting and sculpture has. I didn't want it to be thought of as some kind of lesser activity. It was not painting, it was not sculpture, but it was equal to.”

People who have an appreciation for fine design are starting to use furniture more as a form of personal expression in their homes than merely as something functional. Bebe Pritam Johnson of Pritam & Eames Gallery said, “Furniture has been part of the human experience since our nomadic forerunners gave up hunting and gathering in favor of cultivation of the land and the rise to community. When we move from place to place we bring furniture along in order to make us feel at home. Furniture acts as both mute witness and participant in our lives, day in and day out. And it is in the home over time and with familiarity that furniture takes its character, establishes its provenance, and realizes its essential nature through the honor of use.” Furniture is an extension of ourselves, expressing our taste while serving our bodies. It is a wardrobe for our home.

One of the most utilitarian of all collectibles, furniture is probably also the most intimate – the way it hugs our bodies, supports the smalls of our backs, rests our wrists. When coupled with its maker’s vision of beauty, creature comfort endures as one of our oldest art forms, and is always getting a fresh interpretation. Buying studio furniture is not like going to a furniture store. You are buying from artists who designs and builds the piece by hand. Works are showcased and sold through craft or art galleries or at craft or furniture shows, displayed at studio open houses, commissioned by a client, or purchased directly from the makers shop. American studio furniture has become increasingly sought-after with most of the pieces in private homes.

Pat Morrow of Trail Mix Studio is a studio furniture maker in Evergreen. You can view her work at trailmixstudio.com and also on this year’s Open Door Studio Tour.