Andrew Pitts
- FurnitureMaker
Workshop Update 2008 No. 2
Hi Folks,
Welcome to my fourth semi-annual e-mail update. I
thought you would
be
interested in hearing more about my recent work and furniture
activities! I've linked some information to sites on the
internet, so just click on the highlighted and/or underlined words.
Just
remember to come back for the rest of this letter! I hope you enjoy
the
reading.
I want to remind
you of an
interesting
feature to my
website.
It is a Work
in Progress page where I discuss how I am making some of my latest
pieces. On that page you will find photos of the work as it progresses,
plus lots of discussion of what I am doing and how I am doing it,
especially interesting to the woodworker! I hope you will find time to
browse the
pages.
My
biggest news is that I have decided to take the plunge and enter my
work in some major furniture shows next year. Last November, a group of
four artists (I was one of them) rented the Middlesex Art Guild Gallery
in Urbanna for the Oyster Festival. We called the show "Pearls in the Oyster", and our poster (which I designed - like it?)
screamed that it was definitely a classy show! Our gallery was well
attended .... but, I did not sell anything, nor have I had any leads
come to fruition :-( .
Now, I could blame that on the economy, but I would be only partially
correct (or maybe not correct at all). More likely, I failed to target
my work to the right audience. Folks going to the Oyster Festival are
not there to buy fine furniture -- they want oysters! So, I made a
landmark decision to seek the right market for my work and get
into the best east coast fine furniture shows. Last February, when
Kathy and I were in Philadelphia we stopped at the old (now defunct)
Philadelphia
Naval Shipyard to see where the Philadelphia
Invitational Furniture Show was held. By the way, that stop brought
back a lot of memories, as I had drydocked two different Naval vessels
at "Philly" and had spent a lot of time in that yard. I was very
impressed with the way the city had converted the buildings to
commercial use while retaining their historical flavor, and a fine
furniture show seemed a great fit. I became inclined to try to get into
that show, but it is an invitational show and I had not been invited!
So, after the Oyster Festival I went to work. I wrote to the exhibitors
I knew and some that I did not know and asked for sponsorship. They
liked my work and I was invited to exhibit. About the same time, the
promoter of the Providence and Milwaukee Fine Furnishings and Fine
Craft Shows invited me to her first ever opening in Baltimore, at the
France-Merrick
Performing Arts Center, formerly the Hippodrome Theatre, Western
National Bank and Eutaw Savings Bank. This
show is to be called the Baltimore
Fine Furnishings & Fine Craft Show, and will be in the North Lobby
and M&T Bank Pavilion of the Center (it's worth clicking this
link just to see this spectacular hall!). In addition, I will be
showing locally at Festival Halle in Reedville during the Historic
Garden Week on 22 April! Here are the dates; I hope to see you at one
of the shows!
Philadelphia
Invitational Furniture Show 28-28 March 2009 at the Cruise Ship
Terminal
Historic
Garden Week Show 22 April 2009 at Festival Hall
in Reedville, VA
Baltimore
Fine Furnishings and Fine Craft Show 2-3 May 2009 at the France-Merrick
Performing Arts Center
This
summer I completed one of the most complex pieces I had ever
made. I called it "A
Special Cabinet". It was a cabinet that would
house a lift
television system, a showcase for a snuff bottle collection, and hidden
compartments for necklaces and earrings! Not your
usual combination, to be sure, but very, very interesting. My client
had sought out other makers to design and make the piece but was told
by one large outfit
that it just couldn't be done to their specifications. The space
constraints were formidable, but I gave it a try and made up some
proposals to get the design ball rolling. After a good deal of healthy
back and forth we settled on a design that met all the requirements and
looked great on paper! The design and building of the piece took 227
hours,
and the piece looks great! In fact, the piece won an Honorable
Mention in the Custom
Woodworking Business Magazine's 2009 Design Portfolio
competition! I am ecstatic winning that honor for the second year
in a row! Read about how I made this piece in Work
in Progress.
This year
I made a nice little piece that I had been thinking about ever since
Kathy and I took a long cross country train trip in 2007 -- I had lots
of time to think as the rails clackity-clacked by. The piece was a Sofa
Table, so this year I tackled it. I had some cherry from a very
'bent' tree that a friend of mine convinced me to take a few years
back, and I'm glad I didn't refuse him. From that tree I was able to
bookmatch a top, laminate it to some walnut and white oak, and build a
leg/stretcher assembly where the top 'floats' above. I really like this
little table, and I invite you to read about it's construction in Work
in Progress.
Kathy and I
took a very special trip in October. We went to visit our adopted
family in
Memphis (a Navy family stationed there), and on the way we stopped for
two nights in Asheville, NC. I had been wanting to make that trip for a
few years, because in Asheville is Grovewood
Gallery, one of the
foremost studio furniture galleries in the nation. I had spoken with
the gallery manager at two previous Furniture Society conferences, and
had attended her presentation at the conference last year on showing in
a gallery, so I as anxious to see it. The visit did not disappoint!
Grovewood Gallery is located on
the grounds of the Grove Park Inn, arguably the second most well known
feature of Asheville (the first has to be the Biltmore Estate), and is
a
fabulous place. I spent at least two hours in there, inspecting each
piece of exquisite furniture in detail. Of course, I was thinking all
the while of my work and how it might fit into the gallery ....
hmmmm..... Also, while at Grovewood I visited the Furniture
Society
office, housed in the gallery building. We also visited the Folk
Art Center of the Southern
Highland Craft Guild, and as luck would have it they had a fine
furniture exhibition taking up the entire second floor! What a bonanza!
All in all a great visit. While
in Asheville we stayed at The Lion
and Rose, a very nice B&B in the Montford historic district
near downtown. The Lion and Rose
is an elegant place. We had a nice room with a private bath, a pantry
was always stocked with goodies, and the breakfasts were superb ... and
we found it to be one of the lowest priced B&B's, as well. We can
heartily recommend The Lion and
Rose for anyone staying in Asheville.
In my
last newsletter I told
you about one of my recent projects, a Filing
Cabinet. I had made two of these filing
cabinets, one for myself and one for sale, and had shown it at the Studio
Gallery in
Kilmarnock and at the Furniture
Society conference Member's Gallery in Purchase, NY. Well, the
Filing Cabinet sold! It was purchased for a 50th wedding anniversary.
To make the gift extra
special, we designed a special brass plate to commemorate the
anniversary and attached it to the top. My clients loved it! But that's
not
all! In October I received word that the Filing
Cabinet had been selected as a Finalist in the 2009
NICHE Awards competition in the Wood: Traditionally Joined
category. The winners of the NICHE competition will be announced in
February at the Buyer's
Market of American Craft in Philadelphia, but as far as I am
concerned I am very happy just to be a Finalist for the second year in
a row and to have very happy clients! My Work
in Progress article shows how I made this file cabinet.
I've been
interested in carving wood ever since I made some Paschal
Candle Stands, and in a recent piece I pushed my carving envelope
some more. I designed a small cabinet to be a plant stand, but when I
had the cabinet dry assembled (that is, without glue), something was
missing. In my mind the stand had a large potted vine on top with the
tendrils running down the sides of the cabinet. So, why not carve the
vines into the top and sides, just in case the future owner did not
have a potted plant! The result still stops me every time I see it. I
just love this little cabinet; secretly I hope it is never purchased so
I can enjoy it forever, but for the time being it can be seen at the
Studio Gallery in
Kilmarnock, VA. I call this piece my "Pedestal
Cabinet", and you can read all about how I made it in Work
in Progress.
I have
friends/clients who have commissioned me for several
pieces; I was at their home recently and the place is starting to look
like an Andy Pitts gallery (well, not really, but I can wish). I loved
seeing my work in use! One of the
reasons I was there was to install a pair of Gun Cases that I designed
and built. My client is somewhat of a collector and wanted to finally
showcase his weapons. Last spring he brought me four heavy pieces of
glass, the kind that are used in tall stereo cabinets and I used two of
them to make big glass doors, designing the rest of the cabinets around
them. When completed, the cabinets looked great! In one, we used the
Army Corps of Engineers flag as the backdrop, as my client is retired
from the Corps. I don't have studio shots of the cabinets, but you can
read all about them in my Work
in Progress article.
This fall I taught two classes in my workshop,
organized in conjunction with the Rappahannock Art League.
The first two-day class was how to get a shop up and
running, while the second class was about veneering, laminating, and
finishing. These were demonstration classes, as I have limited bench
space, but my students loved them, anyway. We were so encouraged by the
outcome that we will be offering the same series of classes, plus a
class focusing on joinery techniques, in conjunction with the
Rappahannock
Community College and the Rappahannock Art League.
Now for my commercial message; if you live in the area and just in case
these classes sound interesting, here's the spring 2009
lineup. Give the college a call
(804-333-6828
or 804-758-6750) to sign up.
Course
3923
Starting
Your
Studio Furniture Workshop Mon. and Tues., March 23 and 24
Start your studio
furniture making endeavor on the right foot! We will
examine all aspects of starting up your studio shop, including the
following: space requirements, equipment arrangements, dust collection,
benches & vices, tools, special finishing & photography areas,
storage, safety considerations, and property & liability insurance.
The course will then describe tool and equipment setup, maintenance,
and safety considerations, exploring which tools are actually needed
and how to acquire them. $95
Course 4520
Designing and
Constructing Heirloom Furniture Mon.
and Tues., April 20 and 21
Design and construct your
furniture to last many
lifetimes! We will examine the "engineering" properties of wood;
essential design considerations; and the use of design tools, including
demos of Computer Aided Design (CAD). Milling and joinery methods
will
be shown, such as hand & machine cut dovetails, mortise & tenon
joints, finger joints, dowels, biscuits & dominoes, and the use of
screws. Glues and clamping techniques will be discussed. $95
5518 Veneering,
Laminating, Carving and Finishing
Furniture Mon.
and Tues., May 18 and 19
Take your furniture
creations to the next level! We will discuss and
demonstrate advanced techniques such as veneering panels and curved
surfaces, the vacuum press, and laminating wood for strength, beauty,
and to obtain bent forms. Decorative carving will be
demonstrated—you
can do carving too! Selecting, preparing, and applying finishes
in a
small shop will be discussed, including the decisions to dye wood &
techniques to do the job right! $95
For those
familiar with the Artisans
Center of Virginia,
our official state center of craft in Waynesboro, VA you might be aware
that in January we held a fundraiser we called "An Afternoon with
Artisans". We
sold tickets entitling the bearer and a guest to an afternoon of good
food, drink,
and company, but more importantly each ticket holder went home with a
unique piece of donated Virginia craft worth more than the ticket
price! We
raised a lot of money to keep our center alive and a lot of people went
home with some nice craft art. Well, we are going to do it again on 25
January 2009! I'm in charge of this event, so you can take my word that
it will be a great time and an even greater bargain. Give me a call or
an e-mail if you would like more info, or to purchase a ticket. You
won't be disappointed.
Best regards,
Andy Pitts
p.s. If you would prefer to not receive my updates, please reply to
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