Vanya Smythe, Vanya Smythe (Studio Furniture 2018)

Newly based in Nelson, New Zealand, in 2017 I completed the full-time program at Nelson’s Centre for Fine Woodworking and became interested in woodworking for personal development. I am grateful to the school and to David Haig and David Upfill-Brown for the excellent teaching and assistance they gave me in designing and building my Flying Heart and Epiphany tables. The Flying Heart table was inspired by Sufism and the way of the heart. The Epiphany table is about the five pointed star that guided the three wise men in their quest for perfection. I was raised in a Sufi church and my understanding of the allegorical story of the three wise men is that they represent the three aspects of our psyches; emotion, intellect and instinct. On a good day of fine woodworking, when my emotions, intellect and body seem to be working in harmony, I feel more settled in myself and sometimes experience a deep sense of inner peace. I am interested in designing and building fine woodwork to represent esoteric themes.

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