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Hamptons Magazine: Michael Hennessy Home

NY — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:54:24 +0000

There is a nice article in the latest issue of Hamptons Magazine about Michael Hennessy Home in NYC. The gallery is on 207 West 18th Street and features works by artists with a connection to Long Island. I have Outdoor Bench #3 with them and I look forward to a continuing relationship with them.

Look for the latest issue of Hamptons Magazine pictured below and make sure to visit Michael Hennessy Home when in NYC. mhhome.net

Below is a snippet from the article which can be found here. Outdoor Bench #3 is paired with a painting by Eric Ernst.

Concrete Bench: Part 2

NY — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:48:34 +0000

I have cleared some other work from my studio and I am back on the new concrete bench full time. In the last post I had filled the forms with concrete. The next step is to remove the casting from the form. This should give a better idea of how the whole casting process works.

First I turn the form over so that i can remove all of the screws and bolts.

The pieces start to come off. The small blue circles are plastic inserts buried in the concrete to allow a soft foot to be screwed to the casting. This will protect the floor of the bench is to be used indoors. This bench is going outdoors on a concrete patio so the foot will serve as a shock absorbing transition. Without it the leg would surely chip. The brown and white and blue mess in the center is apiece of foam that formed the relief in the foot detail.

With the side piece removed the white PVC edge is revealed. This insert forms a very important detail in the leg. Lets take off more!

You can clearly see the recess formed by the foam block. Remember that the leg is upside down.

The last piece off will be the PVC board that formed the step detail in the face of the leg

Here it is removed and the leg is now in the proper position.

The rest of the shaping on the leg will be done with this wet grinder. Before I tackle the final detailing I need to focus on the seat.

Here we go! I begin by cutting and gluing together foam. The foam will help make the seat lighter. The next installment will focus on the stainless steel that will reinforce the seat.

Concrete Bench Part 1
Concrete Bench Part 2

Concrete Bench: Part 1

NY — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:35:24 +0000

I have started construction on a piece that is pushing new ground for me. It is the first piece that I have designed without any wood. This is relevant only because I approach furniture design from the perspective of being intimate with my main material, wood. The concrete elements in my pieces have steadily evolved since I first used the material in 2005. The all concrete bench will be known as outdoor bench #7 and is currently in production with its predecessor, outdoor bench #6.

Here are some shots of the model

The detail on the legs are an evolution of the detail that was first developed for Outdoor Bench #6. That detail was first used in the big planter that I made for the Open Bowls show at the Longhouse Reserve. I mentioned before that Outdoor Bench 6 and 7 are being built at the same time. They both rely on that detail so I am glad that I had an opportunity to incorporate it into the planter. That experience gave me the confidence to move forward with both benches.

The detail is made by cutting a piece of PVC board into the negative shape of the desired step. I can foresee a day when I make the whole form out of the PVC board. I have a feeling it is going to cast very well. For now I am content to mix the new PVC board with my standard technique of using AC plywood.

Another new development in my concrete procedure is the addition of a wet grinder with diamond polishing pads. I bought the grinder to help make the facets that I use to give each casting its unique presence. The ability to make all of the surfaces look the same regardless of the material that was used to cast them is quite liberating. In the case of these legs I can cast them with the top surface up. In the past I could only have the bottom of the feet up becasue the finish would stink. All is different now that I can grind that surface to perfection.

The final part that needs to be fabricated presents a number of new technical challenges. The seat is going to be fun. First of all it is made up of two separate castings that will be bolted together. This will allow me to give the seat an angle towards the center with a small gap for water to escape. The final. consideration at this stage has to do with designing some flexibility into the forms so I can vary the length. This is not a factor in my other benches because the seats have all been made of wood. My solution was to pick a maximum size for the seat and build the form to that size. I then built a sliding stop so that I could cast into a smaller portion of the form.

There are plenty of other issues that i will need to address before I can cast the seat. To be continued…

Concrete Bench Part 1
Concrete Bench Part 2

AAEH Studio Tour 2010

NY — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 02:45:37 +0000

I will be opening the doors to my studio on July 8-10 in conjunction with the Artist Alliance Of the East End. They have been organizing studio tours in the Hamptons for the last 25 years.

Tickets should be purchased ahead of time through a number of local businesses. The complete list can be found here at the AAEH website. The ticket price is tax deductible and will help the Artist Alliance continue to support the Artists who live and work in The Hamptons.

The Members exhibit opened tonight, July 2, and will run through Sunday July 11 at 3:00pm at Ashawagh Hall in The Springs. The show offers a great opportunity to see the work of the membership and get a sneak peak at the work of the artists participating in the studio tours. More information is available here

Corner Piece #3 on display at The Artist Alliance Of The East End Members show 2010. More information on this piece.

Open Bowls 2010

NY — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 02:28:29 +0000

I wanted to post a report from the first installment of the Open Bowls component of the Planters On and Off the Ground Show at the Longhouse Reserve in East Hampton NY. It was a big success and should only be more of a spectacle moving forward. I say that because I got the feeling from John Danzer, the juror, that bigger was better. I have never shied away from increasing the scale of my work and I already have ideas for next year.

Here are my planters and some of the highlights of construction. (that is code for disasters that threatened to derail my efforts)

I presented three planters.

The first two are meant to be displayed together. They are about 85% clones of each other and create a nice dialogue when placed in a garden as a pair

The bulk of the variation comes in the woodwork. The sweeping curves and facets of the Sapele core are very different and encourage the viewer to circle each planter and then comare one to the other.

The concrete also has variation from one to the other but they are not as dramatically different as the woodworking. I designed the concrete to feel different from every angle so the owner could rotate them to achieve the movement they need for that moment in their home or garden.

The concrete is cast in two sections. The plywood box below has been filled with concrete, cured and flipped over ready to be taken apart. The center core is like a section of a pyramid and should have just popped out with a bit of encouragement. Do you get the sense that it did not quite go according to plan?

It required more than just a bit of encouragement with a BIG hammer and a pair of pry bars. Somehow the rest of the form survived so I rebuilt the core in sections that would allow for it to come out in a series of pieces.

The other planter I made has the presence that I now think is deserving of the Open Bowls portion of the exhibition.

The planter measured almost four feet across.

The Sapele petals were connected to a massive concrete core. I respect that the show was about empty planters but I really want to see this one with plants. I imagine that a composition of low plants would be just as successful as an arrangement of very tall plants. I think this could be my most original and versatile planter to date.

I just wanted to point out the detail in the concrete as it will soon be making an appearance in my series of outdoor benches. The detail creates an asymmetrical step in the concrete that creates a deep shadow detail. Not only that but the specifics of creation allow me to vary this detail from one casting to the next. This detail adds a level of variation to my concrete work that should help take my next few benches to new places.

OK I had to see what this planter looked like with these two little seedlings. I am already looking forward to next year!

Open Bowls/Planters On and Off The Ground 2010

NY — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:42:12 +0000

I will be participating in the new “Open Bowls” section of the third installment of the Planters On and Off the Ground show at the Longhouse Reserve in East Hampton NY.

The new category is for people like myself whose specialty is creating the original vessel. I look forward to seeing the work of the other artists.

Planters On and Off The Ground / Open Bowls

Longhouse Reserve in East Hampton NY

Opening reception on Saturday June 26 5:30PM

More information

Sitting Pretty Artist Talk

NY — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 11:22:34 +0000

The weather decided to cooperate on the 5th of June for the opening reception of the latest show, Sitting Pretty, at the Berkshire Botanical Garden. The evening was able to proceed as planned with the group moving from piece to piece. Each artist was given an opportunity to talk about their work and answer the thoughtful questions from the audience. Douglas Thayer was the first artist to talk. His “Baseball” bench made of recycled Ipe from Coney Island boardwalk was the first of four pieces that Doug talked about.

Douglas Thayer and his “Baseball” bench

Terence Dubreuil and Vivian Beer were not able to make the opening so Joyce Nereaux, the curator of the show, stood in for them. Jack Larimore had car trouble on the way to the opening so Peter Harrison helped to explain his work. Lisa Fedon was in attendance and spoke about her work. I am glad I had a chance to tell Lisa how much fun our boys had with he OM-Cair (with gong).

Peter Harrison examining the work of Vivian Beer

I have included the video of my talk with the opening night crowd. Due to the logistics of moving through the gardens we moved from bench 1 to 4 to 3. I have taken the liberty of putting the videos in chronological order. I think it makes for a slightly more coherent presentation of my development.

We are looking forward to coming back to see the show again as the gardens go through there annual transformation!

Berkshire Botanical Garden- Sitting Pretty

NY — Fri, 28 May 2010 12:03:27 +0000

Sitting Pretty: The Garden Bench As Sculpture

Berkshire Botanical Garden June 5-through the season

Opening Reception Saturday June 5 from 5-7pm

Hours are 10am-5pm daily
May 1 – Columbus Day
More information

The Berkshire Botanical Garden is presenting the outdoor benches of six artists in a show curated by Joyce Nereaux. I will be exhibiting three benches and a pair of my planters. This is the first time that I have exhibited three of the four benches in my outdoor series in the same show (Outdoor Bench #2 is on view at the Longhouse Reserve in East Hampton NY). Outdoor Bench #4 was recently completed and makes its debut in the show. The bench features cast concrete, Sapele and Stainless Steel in its 10′ footprint.

Outdoor Bench #4
Sapele, Cast Concrete and Stainless Steel 117″ L x 25″W x 30″ H

Outdoor Bench #3
Mahogany, Cast Concrete 84″L x 22″W x 17″H

Outdoor Bench #1
Sapele 81″L x 21″W x 17″H

New Bench And BBQed PVC Pipe

NY — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:13:37 +0000

I have a number of project going on that I am very excited about. One of those projects is a bench that I am designing for a clients home in the Hamptons. It turns out that their needs are in line with what I need for an upcoming show In the Berkshires at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens. I will be exhibiting three benches in their upcoming show- Sitting Pretty: The Garden Bench As Sculpture. Two are ready to go but I am in need of a show stopper! This is where my needs have overlapped with the needs of the client. I am still in the process of finalizing the commission with them but I am going to press on and build a version of the same bench for the show in the Berkshires. The two benches will be about the same size, 10 feet long, and they will share the same look. That said they will each be unique. My work does not lend itself to multiples and this is as close as I get.

Here are some photos of the model. Note that the model is more detailed than the ones I make for myself. The model is my primary tool for expressing my intentions to the client.

This last photo illustrates the first stumbling block in the construction of the new bench. The inside curve of this cove on the outside of the leg is going to be a challenge to fabricate. The concrete will be cast into a form so I need to find a tube of suitable diameter to incorporate into the form. In the past I have use PVC pipe to make a similar detail. In this case the pipe would have to be big. Probably around 12″ in diameter. I have a section of a pipe half that size. What to do? I went on Ebay looking for sections of large diameter PVC pipe. I found some but they were not long enough for this application. I had an idea!

Here you can see the before and After!

Here the part is incorporated into the form

Not quite ready for concrete but a very good start and nothing caught on fire!

Newsday: Bench Impress

NY — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 12:14:04 +0000

I was approached by Newsday at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show. The article was published a few days ago and I was included in the show highlights! Here is a link to the article.

Architectural Digest Home Design Show Highlights
March 31, 2010 Newsday