An Old Friend Comes Home

I’ve been a bit of a nomad for the last decade or so. Lots of moving around and many of my “things” have lived in boxes or some sort of storage. Now that my house is done, I decided to pull one of my favorite pieces off the wall of the shop and bring it home to live with me again.

As you can see, it’s been hanging on the back wall of the shop for years.

This piece was commissioned about 20 years ago by a woman who wanted to honor her late husband by creating seating at a local museum. We looked through my Windsor books to find a style and I gently nudged her towards a piece that interested me. I built a prototype for the bench and kept it and the second one went to the museum.

I thoroughly enjoyed getting the sawdust off it and revealing the wear of the paint. This lived in my old home for many years and got lots of use.

My interest in Windsor chairs started with the Birdcage style, specifically an image I saw of Curtis Buchanans excellent version. Here my first chair, which I made by copying his design from a photo as best I could. Once I met one of his chairs in the wild (at Sawyers house) I was of course stunned by how off mine was, even in color. It turns out the photo was had terrible color balance and yellow looked green. But the green I painted this chair became somewhat of a signature color for me, so it worked out.

This style came later in the production of American Windsors than the comb back, sack back etc… I’ve heard it referred to as a “degenerate” form. The simplified parts and and turnings allowed factories to meet the needs of the masses for cheap furniture. These are still the chairs that most interest me, rather than the more clearly colonial chairs. I like the cleaner lines and quieter forms.

This bench is even more simplified, with only the top rails being bent. I always wanted to revisit this form in the armchair version. Maybe I’ll get to it this year and see if anyone want to make one in a class.

I love the way the shadows of the spindles form a pattern that intersects with the spindles here

I’m so happy having this piece back home, it really ties the room together ( in a Lebowski way)

Below the paywall line, I have a video tour of the first floor of the house from start to now finish. As I start in on the barn, I like to sit in the house and remind myself that I’ll actually have something to show for all the expense, stress and labor. Here is the first part of the demolition. I instantly changed my plan and am ordering much larger windows, the view is too precious.

The house project kicked my butt. Luckily, most of the barn effort will be making decisions and writing checks. I hope to be in the barn early next year, fingers crossed.

Ucoming Classes

If a class you want is full, please contact us to be put on the waitlist. It is very common for folks on the waitlist to gain admittance. To enroll or get on the waitlist, contact info@petergalbert.com. For more info, visit petergalbert.com/schedule

Oct 7-12 Bowl Carving Exploration with Dave Fisher Full

Oct 14-19 Temple Chair with Peter Galbert Full

Oct 26-27 Sharpening with Tim Manney Space Available

Nov 3-10 Modern Rocking Chair with Peter Galbert Full

Nov 17-22 #14 Chair with Bern Chandley Full

Dec 1-6 Lowbow Armchair with Bern Chandley Full

Dec 14-15 Spoon Carving with Tim Manney Space Available

Jan 20-25 #207 Chair with Andy Glenn Space Available

Feb 10-16 Continuous Armchair with Peter Galbert Space Available

Mar 8-9 Turning Intensive with Peter Galbert Space Available

March 24-30 Helix Armchair with Peter Galbert Space Available

April 26-27 Turning Intensive with Peter Galbert Space Available

May 5-11 Side Chair with Peter Galbert Space Available

June 15-22 Modern Rocking Chair with Peter Galbert Space Available