Tuesday 18 June 2013

in woodworker Joshua Vogel's studio



The moment I found this feature on woodworker Joshua Vogel over at Garden Design it felt as if I had dug up a treasure chest. I knew nothing about Joshua Vogel, who produces wooden sculptures, furniture and accessories in his workshop called Blackcreek Mercantile & Trading, Co. in the Hudson Valley, New York. He is also the co-founder of BDDW, located at 5 Crosby Street in NYC.

Vogel's studio, an old factory building from 1917, is one of my ideas of heaven. Everywhere you look there is wood and pieces in production, and the woodworking and engraving tools are neatly organised. The theories of American naturalist John Burroughs (1837-1921) are his guiding inspiration and for the production he uses local woods such as black walnut, sycamore and maple.
A vase hewn from the crotch section of a sugar maple with butterfly joints holding together the natural split.

Below you see Vogel at work in his studio. When talking about his design process he says: "I have many forms in my mind I want to create ... but once you start out on the lathe, you often have to let go of your intentions and let the wood tell you what it wants to be."
A sculpture made of sycamore and finished with black graphite. The ridges are hand-wrought.

The Scout magazine visited Vogel in his studio and in this beautiful and soothing video - an ode to trees and nature - he shares his ideas about his work and his life philosophy.




photo credit:
1-3 + 5: Rose Callahan / 4: Seth Smoot (Vogel at work) / 6: Vivian Lanzarone via Garden Design

2 comments:

  1. I could watch a craftsman at work all day long. I absolutely love those wooden vases.

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