Design Process
The first time that I saw a braided river was as a young traveller in the Himalayas. Coming from a dry land, a rapid river that worked its way from side to side within the valley was an impressive sight.
Design Process
A few years later luck and love brought me to Christchurch, where braided rivers are just a short trip away. Hard work and more luck brought me back to those Himalayan rivers as a professional photographer later in life. The path of photography around the world also introduced me to architecture, both ancient and modern, people from diverse cultures, geography and a little wildlife (for good measure). All these experiences built up to a bank of memories and influences that pop up in my creative process.
It is hard to pinpoint what exactly drives my decision to use one look over the other in each piece of furniture. I start with the timber. The grain, colour, form and texture will point the direction of the design. At times the connection is clear and at times it is more obtuse. Sometimes it is not clear to me where the “look” comes from until after the piece is complete and I look at it or its pictures.
The braided river motif is very obvious and, just like what seems random in the way the water curves its way in the valley, so does the design.
To achieve the look, the timber has to be stacked while being cut. The bottom layer is concealed and the pattern that appears after the cut is hard to predict in advance. That is part of the pleasure in working this way.
The cross tapered legs are visually very pleasing and technically quite demanding.
I cannot pinpoint what drove my decision to explore this design. But I know that the two images, children on a bamboo swing in Nepal and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, are well burned into my memory since I took them more than a decade ago, and speak to me whenever I consider this design.
The idea for this wine rack is borrowed from Tibetan and Nepalese mountain monasteries. I have particularly referenced the assembly of the small prayer wheels on the dusty streets. The open sides design is borrowed from pagodas.
Other looks are a reflection of my love of wild life. At the same time, these designs also reference the mountain ranges from my travels and my home, Aotearoa New Zealand, that run like spines across the land.
This synthesis of ideas brings out some really pleasing results. This coffee table is a mixture of landscape and East Asian architecture.
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