Incollect Magazine - Issue 14

Incollect Magazine 89 The Wedge console table is another popular design. It is a relatively simple and very clever design composed of three components that are assembled to create a cantilevered tabletop. “The diagonal member passes through channels in the leg assembly, and the top portion passes through a steeply hand-cut mortise in the single board top, where a small walnut wedge is inserted to lock the structure in place,” Blaney explains. “The precision joinery involved in this piece is all cut by hand and on display. It has a hand-rubbed oil finish and ships flat, making it easy and inexpensive to ship.” Designers and clients are also enamoured of his benches and case pieces. The popular Westport sideboard is created in a laminated birch substrate with thick white oak veneer. “Joined with reinforced mitered corners with continuous grain orientation across the top and down sides, the case is hand- scraped with a white pigment to fill the grain,” Blaney explains. “The inset back is similarly finished, allowing the piece to be placed away from a wall. Doors are ash veneered and finished with durable pigmented conversion varnish to color, but not to hide the wood’s prominent texture and beauty.” There are subtle recesses on the top edge of the doors for opening. Blaney firmly believes that “form follows function” in furniture, and for that reason, there is little decoration on his furniture. But, his pieces are also frequently playful, with expressive elements woven into the minimal forms. The dynamic angles and overall design stances of his Biped table, his Steppin’ Out table, or Heron table are good examples, along with the vibrant colors he sometimes uses on them. He also likes to highlight different wooden elements by painting or staining them. “They play off each other,” he says, “I think the contrasts enhance the overall beauty of a piece.” Dimensions, woods, and finishes are all customizable with the case pieces, Blaney says, and he encourages clients to contact him to discuss pieces. There are also a variety of internal configurations possible, not just for the case pieces but also for his bookshelves and desks. “Most of my pieces can be customized, and nearly every design of mine that I reproduce is altered in some way from the original version, either its dimensions, woods, or finish, based on clients’ requests,” he says. “A recent project involved scaling down the dimensions of my Organic Round pedestal table for a San Francisco-based designer, at the request of their client.” He does most of the work on the pieces himself, he says, except for the upholstery, which he contracts out. “When my work and delivery schedule require, I have a handful of pretty skilled craftspeople in the area I rely on for help in the studio, and I have had some short-term help, but by and large, all the work from design, modelling, building, and finishing is done by me. I pride myself on being a good designer, but equally as a precision craftsman, so it only follows that everything that goes out of the studio is something that I have worked on.” The Townsend 2 Coffee Table in white oak. Hand-sculpted base with traditional mortise and tenon joinery. Oval top with a steeply beveled underside gives it a light, refined appearance.