Daniela's Table

" Table for Daniela "

“I need a table” she said, “Oh yes.” I replied not quite switched on yet, “Its to go in my apartment and to sit in front of this modern sculpture I have by Anish Kapoor” that woke me up“ Oh Yeeees…. that does sound interesting” I said. Daniela had been recommend to call me by a fellow member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen a maker I met at one of the exhibitions, and I must remember to buy him a drink when I see him next. Daniela and I chatted and we arranged to meet at her apartment when we were next both in town. It helps me to both meet the client and see the place the piece will live. I do insist on this before I do any drawings. Sometimes people are surprised that I will travel so far to meet someone. As a whole this commissioning process is based upon mutual trust, I am prepared to go where the prospective client is who is doing me the compliment of expressing interest in my work.

“I have never been involved with having something made and its quite exciting” said Daniela "my family and I have bought art before but we have never been responsible for commissioning something." We talked and I explained how it would work . I listened more than talked. I wanted to really find out what kind of a piece she wanted I showed her my portfolio of photographs of pieces made over the past twenty five years and prompted, and listened.

The piece Daniela had liked on my web site was called “Elvis” he was a low dark table that had a single curve down his length. As we talked Daniela came to understand the form of Elvis and suggested that it would not work in the way she had envisaged, that what she wanted was " a meandering". “That's a good idea!” I thought , I can do something with that.

Artists that exist by themselves, alone, outside our world amaze me. I need other people to help define who I am. I certainly need my wife to tell me who I am, to not be so silly and go and put the rubbish out. Clients also help me define what we do, I didn't feel that Daniela's contribution to our work pushed me anywhere I might not have gone. I just might not have gone there right now.

“ This should be fun she said “ “I hope so,” was my response. I was confident she would have fun doing this, so many of my lovely clients do have lots of fun having furniture made just for them, at least they keep coming back for more.

Later as the piece was being made I contacted Daniela and she was again able to help define how we should proceed. This is the correspondence we had:

David to Daniela

So glad to hear from you. I feel really anxious sending photos of an incomplete piece especially so late in the process. On reflection I should have sent stuff as we did it . I have only just got a good digital camera and learnt how to easily send pictures to clients . Next it will be full digital video conferencing and should be a really good way to show you how the pieces are developing in the workshop .Now we are working on the surface , this is real woody stuff, I want the polished “arrived perfect from Mars” feeling to the sides and edges of the table, these are important surfaces as they swing and move around a lot but the top is different. My fall back position for the table top is the same glowing oil polish as the sides however what I am playing with is a surface that is struck straight from the tool. No sanding just a tool burnished surface. He's gone mad, I know thats what you are thinking. I just want to have a surface that says this is made by the efforts of a human being, skilled, struggling to be perfect especially with this bit of wood but ultimately failing . It's the struggle that is interesting.

Is this silly, it will probably not work and you mustn't worry or be disappointed if it doesn't as I can “just polish it”

Daniela to David

I hope the top does work. I love the idea of the contrast between the sides and the top, and I also love the idea of a table which says ‘ made by a human being' rather than by God like perfection. You are absolutely right in that it is the struggle which is interesting… just as it is the flow which is interesting. We all want polished perfection in our lives, but the truth is that a struggle-free perfection is static and lifeless… and it tends to leave ordinary humans feeling like failures as we can never live up to the demands it makes on us. (I've done workshops with a Jungian Analyst whose most famous book is called ‘Addiction to Perfection' ! ) .

But what happens about the seal of the top? What about marks? Would there be any way to protect it from picking up too many more, unnatural, coffee cup imperfections if it is left in its raw, organic, imperfect, struggling, nakedness?

David to Daniela

Now that's what I call hitting the ball back. I had just about give up on the top, we had spent £200 on a new scraper plane that I had hoped would do it, but it didn't. And I had even told Nev to sand and polish it but you now give me a reason to push on. Perfection is one of the bear traps of fine making. We need to have goals that are clear and the industrial perfect surface is one but as you say it is so dispiriting.

Its is interesting you mention Jung I am attempting to assemble a series of seminars for my students on design and Jung “collective unconscious” comes up as a rationale within my discussion for timeless work. The kind of design that transcends the fashion or style of the age. Not that I know much about Jung but what I know seems to fit with my general understanding. I will try to pull this one back you have inspired me

Don't worry about the usability of the surface I will have an oil polish built up on the flat surface. This will take about six months to cure and harden so treat it gently, mats etc After that you can throw what you like at it.

We did press on and Nev did create the surface with great patience and skill. I was not perfect but it was exciting to see and it complimented the curves of the table. Daniela loved the resulting table, it fitted her space, matched her colours, took ones eye to the lovely Kapoor sculpture as planned and was a piece of quality work that could sit in the same space and not feel ashamed of itself.

If you are considering a similar commission allow a budget of bit less than sterling 10,000