Rustic Furniture
Course Syllabus

Instructor: Art Schaller

Course Description:
Students will collect branches and limbs from our forest to create unique personal objects of beauty, creativity and comfort. Using simple hand tools, available materials and imagination, each student leaves with their own small piece of furniture. All Levels.

Schedule:
This class runs from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Saturday and Sunday.

Things to Bring:
Pruning Saw
Twig or garden pruner
Hammer
Tape Measure
*Yestermorrow will provide tools if you don't have them.

A Word from the Instructor:

Thank you for your interest in this workshop. Here is a little outline of some of the things we will be doing in the two days. We begin with a short slide show and examples, both first-hand and in publication. We touch wood, feel it, discover unique qualities of various branches of available species. I will have a stockpile collected in case of rain and for demonstration. Least you think I am having all the fun (and fun on this excursion into the beauty of trees is a requirement), we will each harvest material from nearby forest, bring it back to our work space, and begin project one. a piece of furniture, probably a table or stool using the by-pass method of connections. Here you will learn structure, geometry, fastening, aesthetic puzzling, and morphogenic resonance (this is willing the wood to find its proper place in the design). Connections are made with twisted shank flooring nails, and the branches used range from ½" to 3" in diameter. The wood is generally green.

Day two focuses on additional methods of fastening, mainly mortise and tenon, pegging, and lapping. These methods require shaping of pieces and may rely on the assistance of power tools. They also require more time and usually seasoned wood. We may work on a group project (one summer we made a conference table for the school).

The workshop is meant to be a sampler of a few basic techniques and most importantly it is hoped that it becomes a vehicle for creativity in primal materials. Everyone's work is a result of a process of material, eye, and hand.

* Upon registration, students will receive an additional packet of diagrams and drawings detailing the construction techniques described.