Chairs

Chairmaking Video

My chairmaking video has now been published by Lost Art Press. Please follow this link to be directed to the Lost Art Press website.

In this chairmaking video course, I take you through the steps required to make a Stick Chair from green wood. The wood is riven, and shaped with axes, draw knives and handplanes. The chair is a mix between Irish and Welsh chairs, two forms I am particularly fond of.

About my chairs

I make chairs that are stylistically a mix between traditional Irish and vernacular Welsh chairs. I am not from either country and I don’t claim heritage from them, my philosophy in chairmaking is rooted in comfort, straightforward engineering and good looks. I love combining the more formal Welsh style with the relaxed Irish style.

I feel that form should follow function and I am a allergic to chairs that are too artsy or overly ornamental. A chair is a functional object. This of course doesn’t imply a chair can’t be beautiful. Quite the contrary.

Too much ornamentation, too much distracting wood grain, odd angles, these features in a chair distract from the overall shape. In my eyes, a chair should make a statement that is easily understood upon first sight.

I therefore also like painting my chairs. This brings out their shape, like a silhouette.

Though I have nothing against Windsor chairs, I prefer the more rugged look of chairs that have been made by people that didn’t specialize in chairmaking. The marvel of discovery beats the dullness of tradition.

People that made these chairs had a problem to solve: how to make a place to sit? They had few options to solve this problem. To put a tree stump or a rock inside your home is not very practical. So these people naturally came up with the necessary engineering to lift their body from the ground. Of course some also had examples of chairs owned by the rich.

The design is pure and raw. You make furniture because you need it, not because you can afford it.

Below are some chairs I have made.