Stuart Backholer, Athena (Furniture)

Athena started her journey into a piece of furniture on a summer trip to Tasmania. Through out my furniture making career I've always in some way or another allowed the timber to guide me. I came across a batch of sawn blackwood, just ready and waiting for making veneers on a trip to Rob Mac Millan's timber yard. I have this habit of purchasing timber and waiting for it to tell me what to do with it. Just as I was about to leave I caught eye of some Huon pine slabs he had tucked away in the shed. Why not? So that was that, I had a decent quantity of air dried timber ready and waiting. It wasn't long until I had a potential commission that would suit the timber and the brief was Art Deco. What better way to celebrate Deco than with a curves. With the air dried timber I was able to steam the veneers to establish the curves and keep the quartersawn appearance in tact. Once I started building this piece I knew it would be one of the most consuming projects I've ever done. Not terribly difficult, although there was a fair share of challenges. Just very laborious and process driven, like most woodwork really it just comes down to planning and patience. I must put thanks to the client for having full faith in my design choices and to Rob for the fantastic timber.

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