This week you are looking at some pieces of wood that are 
being drawn together to make a coffee table. This is not all the wood yet. There’ll be an inlay on the top of the table denoting the space in which the table sits.
All the objects that emerge from my shop are drawn together from various piles of wood, united (joinery, screws, and or glue) and thus formed into a piece of decorative art and/or furniture. This highlights the sense of the word drawing that I’d like to emphasize this week.
Drawing can mean moving from one space to another, one context to a different set of thoughts or objects. I must admit that many times I rely on an image in my head to draw my pieces together rather than a picture on a page of paper. I’ll use a pencil drawing – usually a working drawing – to help someone else see what I see, but it’s an extra step for me.
Therein lies my weakness in design. I don’t have enough confidence in my thoughts and work to involve others at the ground floor. This has and is changing over time – as it must if I’m going to build for others, but it’s been difficult. I have to strive to draw others into my space and deal with them there. I don’t think I’m alone in this. We all, especially in creative endeavors, are unsure about our footing. Drawing, one of the central jobs of designing and building furniture, is a constant labor (I hope in my case) of love.
Find Bourgeois Furniture through the winter months at Berkeley Art Works in Martinsburg, WV and at Bent River Trading Company in Capon Bridge, WV.