Abstract

In a previous life I was a professional furniture maker, but my fascination with Arts and Crafts design has never left me.  I am especially drawn to the work of the famous architects Charles and Henry Greene, who created some of the most well-known work in this genre.  Their designs were heavily influenced by Asian motifs, but informed by the simplicity and emphasis on skill espoused by the Craftsman movement.

Last year I had the opportunity to create an homage to a celebrated Greene and Greene design: the Gamble House bed.  The Greenes created a bungalow for the Gamble family in Pasadena, CA in 1908, and provided all of the furnishings as well.  

I designed a new queen-sized version of this iconic bed for the publication Fine Woodworking.  I used many traditional furniture-making techniques such as mortise-and tenon joints, many of them hand-crafted.  The resulting article was published in January 2013.  My poster will detail the process from research into the source material through construction of the bed.  A portion of the finished bed will be featured, as well as some of the tools and unfinished wood pieces representing different steps in the process.