Language

Here is the progress on the bar chair, yes, bar chair. I've resolved the issue of the height of the back by denoting that this is not a stool. I think that there are good points on both sides of the fence for making the back taller or shorter, I guess the aesthetics take over for me. Also, by ensuring that the legs are spread enough and the back is correctly shaped, it is comfortable and can't tip back (or feel like it could).



But this isn't the language that I am talking about. The language is Windsor. The thing that first drew me to Windsor chairs was the technology, then came the use of form and line and finally, the aesthetics sunk in. Over the years, making one chair over and over has given way to pushing this language of woodworking in directions that interest me. I have obviously been pursuing the rodback form and now it is moving into the curved settee that is in rough form in the image below. So much of the technique that I've developed in the side, arm and bar chairs is translating, with a few twists (or curves). I've always wanted to make a curved settee as a means of making a large piece without the park bench middle. I have already come across some new challenges and interesting visual differences as the curves make their way across the piece.



I am working on a bit of a deadline to finish this piece for a show in June (photos in May!) so I'd better turn off this computer and get to the shop.