Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Mission Furniture


My first teachings in woodworking were in Shaker furniture, but a close second was Mission furniture. The darkened aged white oak with it's rays, or flecks, always seems perfect for the simple design features characteristic of Arts and Crafts furniture. Combined with exposed, detailed joinery, and leather, in any shade, the Mission Style has always drawn me in. I want to build it, and I want to own it. Matthew Moser taught me how to really build furniture, and he said one time; "Take your time on this joint because it will be seen every day by a lot of people, and there's something about a well-made joint that just lets me know all's right in the world". Whenever I see a wedged, chamfered, through-tenon in a piece of Mission furniture, I think of Matt's quote.
While the number of furniture makers exclusively building Mission style furniture is pretty low, ,the style, like Shaker furniture, is in nearly every furniture maker's history. Many Maine furniture makers, in true Arts and Crafts fashion, utilize basic characteristics of Mission design in their contemporary furniture works.
McIntosh and Tuttle Cabinetmakers have a beautiful line of Mission-based furniture. "Inspired, hand-crafted furniture combining the traditional beauty of fine, handwoven baskets and the contemporary sleekness of metallic accents, the Intervale Collection is a fresh interpretation of old and new. Each unique piece in the collection is a delicious blending of warm, rich cherry with cool, crisp aluminum. Graceful and rugged all at once, this custom collection will be treasured for generations to come".
Kevin Rodel is another contemporary furniture maker who draws from the Arts and Crafts movement. "I strongly encourage new design work that draws inspiration from the roots of the original International Arts & Crafts movement but, at the same time, is contemporary and meaningful to our present life styles and environment".
Tom Higbee, of Blue Spruce Joinery, and John Wagner Custom Furniture are two more talented woodworkers whose works fall into this category. For the most part, these Mission style furniture makers operate out of their small one-man shops in their respective Maine towns, using materials purchased locally, contributing to their local economies.
Nearly every Maine town has at least one woodworker who is active in their community, whether it's sitting at the counter eating an early breakfast at the diner talking town politics, or sponsoring a little league team, or helping to raise money for a school or charity. These men and women furniture makers all over our state are successful at what they do because they care about the quality of their work, and their reputation as woodworkers, and as members of their communities.
Maine Furniture's mission is to show people that there is so much more behind every piece of furniture made in Maine than mere lumber and nails. Everyone has their own story and influences, yet they all share in a lifelong commitment to living an honest existence exhibited in their family and community lives, and in their dedication to exceptional quality in their work and work ethics. Small Town Maine lends itself to these people who produce some of the best furniture in the world. With an industry dominated by cheap imports on the fast track to our landfills, we strongly believe that buying quality furniture is great for your bank account in the long run, and great for our local and national economies, and great for our environment. And above all ... it just looks good.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Contemporary Furniture Maker David Margonelli








DAVID MARGONELLI IS ONE OF MAINE'S PREMIER MASTER FURNITURE MAKERS. HE HAS BEEN BUILDING MUSEUM QUALITY PIECES FOR NEARLY FORTY YEARS. HIS FLEXURE LINE OF FURNITURE FALLS INTO THE CATEGORY OF CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE, YET EXHIBITS QUALITIES, SUCH AS SIMPLE, CLEAN LINES, AND FUNCTIONALITY, FOUND IN SHAKER FURNITURE. THE IDEA FOR HIS FLEXURE LINE WAS BORN OUT OF HIS CLIENTS' NEEDS FOR VERSATILITY IN SMALLER SPACES. ALL OF DAVID'S PIECES ARE HANDMADE, AND ARE OF THE FINEST QUALITY AVAILABLE IN THE MARKET.

FOR INSTANCE, DAVID DESIGNED A CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE ROUND TABLE, WHICH EASILY SEPARATES INTO TWO DEMILUNE TABLES, WHICH WHEN COMBINED WITH HIS CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE SQUARE TABLE, FORMS HIS CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE LARGE DINING TABLE. SO BY PURCHASING ONE LARGE TABLE, YOU ARE REALLY BUYING FOUR TABLES.

FLEXURE, BY DEFINITION, IS A CURVE, TURN, OR A BEND, AND FLEXURE FURNITURE, WITH ITS CURVES, OFFERS MULTIPLE SPACE-SAVING APPLICATIONS. DAVID’S CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE WARDROBE, FOR EXAMPLE, HAS AN “S” CURVE FRONT WHICH GIVES YOU MORE ROOM WHERE NEEDED IN THE CONVEX, FOR HANGERS, AND A NECESSARY SMALLER SIDE, IN THE CONCAVE, FOR DRAWERS. THE “S” CURVE FOOTPRINT IS GRACEFULLY SMALLER WHERE IT SITS, BLENDING INTO THE ROOM, AS OPPOSED TO THE TRADITIONAL BULKY, ELEPHANT-IN-THE-ROOM, BOX-STYLE WARDROBE. OTHER CHESTS IN MARGONELLI’S FLEXURE LINE USE CONCAVE AND CONVEX CURVED SIDES WHICH “NEST” TOGETHER TO SEEM AS ONE LARGE CHEST, OR STAND BEAUTIFULLY ALONE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE ROOM.

AS FLEXURE APPLIES TO REPOSE, OR SEATING, IT UTILIZES SMALLER FOOTPRINTS, AND CONTINUES TO EXHIBIT STRENGTHS IN VERSATILITY. HIS CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE SOFA CAN COMFORTABLY ACCOMMODATE A PERSON WHO IS OVER SIX FEET TALL, AS WELL AS SOMEONE WHO IS FIVE FEET TALL. ITS CURVES MATCH ITS ACCOMPANYING PIECES, WHICH BLEND TOGETHER IN AN INVITING, COMFORTABLE, SMALLER FOOTPRINT.

MARGONELLI’S CONTEMPORARY FURNITURE COCKTAIL TABLE FITS EITHER A GLASS TOP, OR AN UPHOLSTERED TOP. FOUR SMALL COCKTAIL TABLES CAN BE LOCKED TOGETHER TO FORM ONE LARGE SQUARE TABLE, OR ARRANGED IN A VARIETY OF WAYS TO PROVIDE EXTRA SEATING WITH A PLACE TO SET A DRINK. (SEE VIDEO)

DAVID MARGONELLI IS A MASTER, WORLD-CLASS WOODWORKER AND ARTIST. HE LOVES WHAT HE DOES, AND IT SHOWS WITH EVERY SINGLE HAND-CUT DOVETAIL, HANDMADE DRAWER PULL, AND IN EACH DESIGN BORN OUT OF HIS CLIENTS' NEEDS. HIS SHOP IS NOT A PRODUCTION FACILTY. DAVID, AND THE TWO TALENTED CRAFTSMEN WHO WORK WITH HIM, MAKE EACH PIECE TO ORDER, ENSURING METICULOUS ATTENTION TO DETAIL. FROM THE CAREFUL, DISCERNING SELECTION OF THE WOOD, TO THE FINAL COAT OF HIS TRADEMARK OIL/VARNISH MIX, EVERY PIECE THAT ENTERS HIS SHOWROOM IS OF THE HIGHEST QUALITY. HIS CUSTOMERS WILL TELL YOU THEY ARE NOT BUYING FURNITURE ... THEY ARE PURCHASING ART.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Shaker Furniture

I spent about a month filming Maine furniture maker, David Margonelli, making two beautiful tiger maple chests with concave and convex curves. They are part of his Flexure line of furniture which incorporates curved pieces that nest together perfectly to appear as one larger piece, or stand on their own as his and hers, and provide different functions, such as coffee table sections that accept a glass top, or an upholstered top. I think it is inevitable that when two furniture makers spend some time together that the conversation will turn to Shaker Furniture, and that is exactly what happened with us. David said something very interesting which I believe holds true for the vast majority of furniture makers: "Shaker was my inspiration and my teacher". The only adornments in Shaker furniture are form and the wood, and Shaker methods of construction stand the test of time. Mortise and tenon and dovetail joints constitute the makeup of most all Shaker furniture, and are an absolute must for any furniture maker to master. Shaker was indeed my teacher too, and I can see the Shaker in David Margonelli's furniture: shape and the grain of the wood. And as the Shakers would hang their chairs on the wall while they swept the floor, David has provided similar function is his pieces.
I believe Shaker furniture can be an inspiration and teacher to people who don't have their own wood shop, especially to those who are looking to buy their first pieces. The simplicity of the design (form) makes it perfect for nearly any space. The grain and/or figure in the wood makes each piece it's own, with it's own unique presence. Its durability will surprise you. You can take comfort in knowing you will not have to buy the same piece again. If you can't cannot afford an entire dining room set, start with a table that can be accompanied by a wide variety of chairs and benches. Build your collection one piece at a time, because it is an investment. It is actually less expensive than buying cheap imported pieces every time you move. I believe that once people realize all the great things Shaker furniture has to offer that they will inevitably seek out other styles of furniture, such as Mission Furniture, Colonial Furniture, and Contemporary Furniture, which all share in form and the natural wood grains. Every local furniture maker can build Shaker. Some stay with it because it is their passion, and others, like David Margonelli, incorporate Shaker into their own designs.
I invite you to view two profiles at www.MaineFurniture.org: Chris Becksvoort (Shaker) and David Margonelli (Contemporary). They are masters at their craft, and if you look closely, you will see their similarities, even though their work is very different. Follow the links to their websites, and read what they have to say, and please keep visiting the site because we are adding woodworkers every week. Thank you!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Recent

It's been a while since I have written about what I've been up to. Maine Furniture has certainly come a long way in the last several months, and overall, in the last 7 months, we have made remarkable progress.
Internet Marketing is all about quality links, and quality content, which are measured by a website's page rank (PR). Maine Furniture has a PR of 4 now. We are showing up consistently in the top three positions on Google, Yahoo, and Bing, for the search term "Maine Furniture", for which there are 30,000 searches per month.
The highest quality links are those websites ending with .gov, and we have nearly 20 of those links. I want to thank the cities and towns here in Maine who have chosen to add a link to us on their website. I have designed a new marketing strategy, called Community Based Marketing (CBM) which involves municipalities listing their local businesses and statewide non-profit organizations supporting them. Ie. Maine Furniture/woodworkers, Maine Lobster Commission/ Lobstermen, Maine Restaurant Association. etc ...
The non-profit organizations are in a position to receive many .gov links which will enable them to rise in the search engine result pages (SERPS) therefore generating more exposure to the businesses listed with them. It is my contention that if every town in Maine did this, Maine business will be be towards the top of their respective searches. My goal is to be on the 1st page for the search word "Furniture", for which there are 100 million searches/month. People all over the world, looking for furniture, would see Maine and our woodworkers. This is absolutely attainable.
North Yarmouth is the 1st town in Maine to switch to a .gov and list their local businesses. There are about ten towns listing local businesses, but do not have the .gov. It's still a great start.
The linking campaign is proving successful, and the content aspect of Maine Furniture is growing every day too. I have added 30 of some of the best woodworkers in the state. We are also redesigning our website, to make the navigation a little more clear, and to give it a fresh look. I have also been filming David Margonelli in his shop, making two chests out of curly maple. Please keep checking in for the video of this extraordinary artist, who has been in the trade for nearly 40 years. Beautiful work.

Well, that's it for now ... I will keep up to date with our progress.

Best,

Mark