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| Step 1: build the pipe frame |
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| Step 2: Pick out wood and attach |
A whole new world has been awakened. My boss wrote me about 3 months ago and prompted an opportunity to build a new entry table for them. He sent a few ideas from Restoration Hardware. You can imagine the lust I possess over some of their pieces of furniture. I think I laughed and verbally commented "I only wish I had the tools and space to build pieces like that." I paused for a moment and thought, ' BUT MAYBE.' And what if our boundaries were expanded and supported in such a manner that we could respond with motivation in the challenge. This wasn't your common challenge, this lit a fire within me, ideas swimming, face fit with giddy grin. I could barely focus on all the to-do's already on my plate, but this, THIS I wanted to think upon, I wanted to dream, I wanted to create, to build, to form.
I found a few ideas and we sketched out a plan together to better fit what he was wanting. Then started the research. I made a few trips to ol' Home Depot to 'play with pipes.' Measuring, adjusting, resketching. Then, I found myself a new piping friend. I got some old pluming pipes, a box full of components and took them home to fit the puzzle together. I considered myself a strong "Jane of all trades," but these pipes dominated me. My perfectionistic side wanted to screw them together in such a way that the threads would be hidden, which is nearly impossible especially without some serious wrenches and clamps.
Then, I headed out to a dear friend's family 'lumberyard' which is just simply a cozy haven of heaven. Smell of fresh lumber, and piles upon piles of possibility. You'd think I was a cooped up kid on a playground. I picked out my slabs, was assisted using some Capital S, Serious tools to plane and join. Loaded up and shipped back home. Went through a handful of options for the coloring, wanting it to be perfect; test strip upon test strip. Finally came up with a combo of steeped black tea, and a vinegar/steel wool combination.
Many measurements and clamping later, I attached the wood and began to work on rusting the legs and attaching the caster wheels. I waited around for a new clear wax to seal it off and was squealing over the change in really smoothing out the confines of the wood. I inevitably always find favorite little pockets of unique quirks abnormalities in every piece. This one had a particular knot that I am sincerely fond of. In cutting this piece of wood, my original measurements would have cut it either down the middle (trouble) or off completely. I saw no other choice than to just extend my measurements to include that little seedling of a branch. The coloring on it is such an array of warmth and intricate detail. I'm in love with the imperfections.
What a sweet labor of love. What a joy to create. To make something from nothing. I'm so accustomed to fixing the already broken and discarded. This was a whole new testimony to designing with care and vision. So many lessons seemed to awaited discovery for me in this and what a delight to see fruit from mine own simple two hands and feeble eager mind.
