the underside of this pallet reminds me of a Mayan city At some point when making a sculpture or piece of furniture, my job is simply to convey a load to the ground. The perennial challenge is to invent or interpret a structural program that gets the job done but adds something new in the […]
Tag Archives: scott Constable
A Chair for Greens
my Elder Chair sidles up to a JB Blunk sculpture at Green’s Restaurant in SF I’ve been commissioned to design a dining chair for Greens Restaurant in San Francisco, one of my favorite spots in the Bay Area. The restaurant’s challenge has been to update its environs while respecting its origins, specifically the zen handwork […]
The Value of Apprenticeship
the house I built with George Smith, Germantown, NY, 1988-89 I’m a strong believer in apprenticeship as a paradigm for learning anything. Much of what I have put into practice in woodcraft and architecture I owe to my friend and mentor, George Smith of Tivoli, New York, with whom I worked side by side building […]
Skygazing Excursion
late afternoon clouds along the Valley Ford-Bodega Road “You must not blame me if I do talk to the clouds.†-Henry David Thoreau In West Sonoma County, the sky blooms when the lands lay dormant. Between storms, I make skygazing excursions and think about what I might do with paints and canvas, longing to free […]
Skygazing
Study of Clouds over the Sea, Brighton, oil on canvas by John Constable, 1822 Like my distant relative, the English landscape painter John Constable, I find myself increasingly looking skyward. Along the Sonoma Coast, the sky is alternately either clear blue or opaque gray for most of the year. But as winter approaches and the […]
Boatbuilding the Fish Sculptures
Boat-Building on the Stour, oil on canvas by John Constable, 1814-15 People who know me well are not surprised by my obsession with wooden boatbuilding. Though I’ve completed just one actual boat, each year I’m gripped with boat fever, especially during the winter months, when I scan plans and dream of the perfect cruise, surveying […]
Sunnyside Conservatory Opens
SF Mayor Gavin Newsom loves our Sunnyside Menagerie project (photo: Bill Wilson) Sunnyside Conservatory officially re-opened to the public over the weekend with a bang. People crowded into the conservatory’s historic, octagonal building, hundreds spilling onto the paths of the tiny, botanical jewel of a park. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom joined other state and […]