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| Volume 1, Number 2 |
December 2008 |
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Welcome to winter, and the second edition of The News from New England Modern, with its focus on the small stuff in our showroom at 70 Railroad Street in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. It's open every Saturday 11 - 4, or any time by appointment. Phone the showroom on Saturdays by calling our cell, 413-717-2530. Weekdays reach us by phone at the studio, 413-528-9937.
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Smalls
There's a kind of poetry to the list of items we sell at our showroom:
Table chair painting gate / Nightlight desk / Shovel bell bracelet bird / Candlestick lamp / Breadboard tray / Bowl blanket pillow poker / Mirror shelf / Doorstop mask
 The list shows that not all New England Modern projects and products involve a large investment of time or money. Peter Murkett's woodwork includes hook hangers made from branches, a carved-volute doorstop, and ironwood napkin rings; Michele Miller  paints large vistas on canvases a few inches square; blacksmith Will Trowbridge forges individual iron hooks, fireplace pokers, and shovels; potter Diane Schapira throws nesting bowls on the wheel, and forms tiny unglazed ceramic masks by hand; Chris Keefe makes glossy black papier mache crows with wire feet; Susie Hardcastle sews pillows, blankets, and upholstery fabrics in her signature appliqué style; jeweler Bart Arnold hammers out silver cuffs; artist Ian Ramsay casts bronze bells.  Simply put, we have many gifts by many gifted artists, all with roots in the Berkshires. A visit to the showroom is a treat for the eye, and if there's a project parked in the back of your mind, it's also a feast of food for thought. All our artists welcome commissions large and small.
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Useful, or not
When useful things are also a pleasure to look at and handle, it adds a lot to their life. Any scrap of lumber can be used perfectly well for a cutting board, but when it has a shaped  hanger/handle neatly and solidly joined to the board, is finished with food-safe oil, and has soft edges and a subtle shape, a person will invent new uses just to keep it in play, and always know where it is, even after moving. When it starts to look tired, it will get that fresh coat of oil, and even as it gets old, scratched, and dented, it will only look better for the wear.
Sometimes, however, we make a thing just to hang it up and look at it. That's the case with the Wallgate. The splits that frame this small gate are made with axe and froe, same as the frames of our full-size, functioning garden gates. The "leaves" are scraps of the hickory bark used for seating in our ladderback chairs. It's strong and leathery, with a lively grain, supple when wet, and stiff when it dries out. The gate is made to fasten flat against the wall, and swings out on dowel hinges. One could always hang a photo or painting behind it; then there would be two ways to look at it: gate closed for a tease, gate open to look beyond, past the wall.
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Two serviceable projects
Refined furniture, however simple it may look when it's done, usually involves demanding joinery and many repetitions of finish process leading to the final, soft, enduring polish. That routine only makes it more refreshing to complete a shop project in a few hours. Some quickies provide lasting satisfaction.
This stairway gate (seen here attached temporarily to the entry of my studio) was made for my own house out of softwood scraps, and is always a pleasure to use. In summer weather the dowel swelled enough to stiffen the hinge action and add quite a creaking sound; in winter its swing was easy and quiet.
Another small project visible in this photo is the sturdy peeled-pole handle on the large sliding door to my studio. It has eyebolts wrapped around it with diamond-shaped mounting plates welded where the bolts pass through the heavy door. It gives a solid grip.
Daily use and smooth function give this gate and handle pleasing familiarity. They wear nicely. Each is an example of purposeful work with just enough detail and conscious design to satisfy without going overboard. If a person wanted it, the gate, for example, could be made of hardwood, joined by mortise and tenon, get a handle, a latch, a fine finish. It would look terrific, work perfectly, and last forever.
When a client wants a Rolls, we have the chops to provide it, and are always delighted to do high end work. When budget and use demand something less, appropriate design amounts to more. Talk to us.
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If you can't visit, call!
We spend most of our time in the studio making things, and just a few hours each week at the showroom in Great Barrington--unless you let us know when to meet you there. Or, if a trip to the Berkshires is just not in the cards, call us at 413-528-9937, and place your order. We can ship just about anything anywhere, and if it's commissioned work, once we pin down the details, we'll complete your project promptly, and send it along or deliver it ourselves.
Please visit our website, www.newenglandmodern.com, to see the full range of our work.
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