This year’s Texas Furniture Makers Show at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center is a dazzling display of artistry and workmanship with a touch of whimsy. More than 50 pieces were juried into this annual exhibition, now in its eighteenth year. Open through December 1, it offers the finest examples of what the Lone Star State’s contemporary woodworkers are creating.
For visitors and fans of woodworking, the assembled works are a feast for the eyes. Starting with familiar forms like rocking chairs, chests and tables as departure points, the pieces on display collectively feature an eye-catching mix of bold shapes and graceful details.
Woodworkers seem to have a reverence for their resources and are conservation-minded about how they use them. While some of us might be inclined to consider wood a naturally renewable resource, in truth many wood types favored by contemporary woodworkers are becoming scarce and thus increasingly hard to source. One example in the current Kerrville show is an imposing buffet by Jody Fletcher with open shelving. The artist utilized repurposed jarrah, a rare type of eucalyptus wood from Australia that, in addition to being hard to come by, is also difficult to work.
Surface design elements on the exhibition pieces are beautifully executed. Take for instance an intricate, inlaid flycatcher on a Wayne Delyea piece. Meanwhile, the floating colored ribbons on Mike Birke’s table may appear effortlessly pieced together to the casual observer, but in truth his process involved a complex combination of techniques including stacking, creative woodcutting, and steam bending.
Today we tend to think of “gamification” as a trendy term applied primarily to video games and appealing mostly to millennials. Judging from this year’s selected works, however, it seems that the state’s seasoned furniture makers are willing to explore the concept more literally in their workshops and studios. Indeed, several pieces on display in Kerrville were created for gaming or with references to traditional game board design. Let the Games Begin by Timothy O’Bryant is amazingly intricate and includes handmade chess pieces tucked into a hidden storage area. John O’Brien’s chess table is so highly lacquered that the black and white squares create the illusion of floating over the wood base.
Closer inspection of each item reveals intriguing materials, some of them with remarkable origins. For example, the surface of Robert Galusha’s bench features repurposed rubber belts. Ken Morgan’s cypress farm table is comprised of wood that survived the 2015 Memorial Day flood in Blanco. The handles of a glass-paned console, made by Peter Mangan and Mike Blasi, are made of salvaged copper.
Delicate notes are struck in the exhibition, too, both in terms of actual materials and in thoughtful, sensitive references to contemporary Texas culture. Aaron Fox’s pear and wenge table features a bridge silhouette with intricate lines and a beautiful, simple silver inlay. Meanwhile Harvey, Paying Tribute to Those Who Suffered, a stunning piece constructed from steel and coated with a red acrylic enamel by Fredericksburg artist Barry Bradley, signifies how many families lost their family gathering spots in the recent hurricane. (This particular work, when sold, will help raise funds to rebuild the Rockport Center for the Arts, a beloved coastal cultural sanctuary badly damaged in the 2017 storm.)
As with most exhibitions showcasing regional artists and artisans, the 2017 Texas Furniture Makers’ Show offers visitors the chance to slow down and marvel at the abundant creativity and innovation to be found in our state. The exhibit is so worthwhile, however, that you may want to make a second trip to see it.
Fran Kenneley Stephenson is a museum and art show fanatic living in Seguin. She has written more than 200 stories about the craft arts and travel, but this is her first piece for THE TEXAS WILDFLOWER.
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The Texas Furniture Makers Show is at the Kerr Arts & Cultural Center through December 1. See the center’s website (below) for exhibition hours.
Kerr Arts & Cultural Center
228 Earl Garret St.
Kerrville, TX 78028
830-895-2911
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