North Carolina's Bob Trotman is June's featured artist. Post questions for him in the comments of this post.
I have done a lot of repair and some festival-going in the last week and a half. A few beautiful mashup things were sold quickly and I don't have pictures. One was an 80's shaped hardwood desk base that I matched up with a vintage sheet of bird's eye maple veneer plywood for the top. The bottom layer of the bird's eye looked like weathered leather but it may have been a severely distressed finish applied very thick? About 40x22, 7-layer finish ply with a drawer pull (type of thing) cut out along one edge - the most unique piece of scrap I've run into in a long time!
On this Formica table, I painted the legs burgundy.
Then I built Icehouse II bookcase on commission:
Starting with the door (backing), I cut of the bottom to make it even and to clean off a thin layer of woodrot in the endgrain. The worn, graffitied door was beaten apart from the sides of the tool cabinet it once enclosed, so splintered edges were split off with a chisel. I then wire brushed away the loose paint chips and triple-coated it with water-based polyurethane front and back.(4 layers on exposed endgrain) The hinges were busted off to remove this one, but the bent latch is intact and rotates freely. (Icehouse I Bookcase also had hinges)
The side panels are cut from the plywood back of a very strange old stereo cabinet. I may cannibalize the rest and will try to remember to take pictures of it first. I gave bits of the componentry to Susan for the future making of a Bot.
The shelves are the very last of the shelf-stock donated by our neighbor Sam from a library tear-out in the early 90s. (Previously, I guessed they had come from a prior incarnation at 201 Haywood Rd.) I lost the shop countersink for about a week, so I used a flat auger bit in its absence. With a wide pilot, the flat recess created by the auger seems to create a lock-tight effect when the wood screws bite in at the end. So, lesson learned: losing tools leads to innovation. Lose your tools often as long as you are certain to find them again later.
I discovered Dutch woodworking artist Ron van der Ende on Empty Kingdom. Soon after, I contacted him about featuring his work on CARPEntryDIEM. He was remarkably open about his passion and process. Following is a portion of our conversations.
Flawless, 2007
JRun: When did scrap material begin to fuel the majority of your work?
Ron van der Ende: I started restricting myself to old wood as material for my
sculptures in 1996 because it boasts a wealth of color and texture, it
is readily available and inexpensive, and because it is inherently
'imperfect'. Sometimes it looks like it has been touched a million
times. It feels good to make something of value from such a modest
material.
Axonometric Array, 2008 (studio)
JR: "...touched a million times." I love that idea; some of your work really wants to be touched. So, how did found wood bring you to bas-relief?
RvdE: I vividly remember having my 'eureka!' moment. It suddenly dropped into
my head that I could work in this material almost flat to produce a
large and light sculpture. I realized instantaneously that it could be
done, that it would be possible to do cars and limitless other subjects.
That I would not need any detailed technical drawings but just one
photograph. And that the result would be unique and spectacular and sell
like hot cakes.
Fly Over, 2002 (studio)
JR: An influence from photography is not at all surprising, but it never occurred to me. The work plays with flatness and dimensionality, so maybe photography is just hiding in plain sight.
RvdE: It felt then (and it feels now) like I have stumbled upon a continent of
possibilities that is mine alone to explore. And twelve years on, there
is still so much opportunity to develop and grow.
Vostok, 2006
It allows me to use both painterly and sculptural solutions.
Because of the 'illusion' it tends to draw people in, also people
without any existing fondness for art. Also I always liked the idea of a
fixed vantage point for anybody looking at a sculpture because it is a
big nono with the crafts teachers. In fact it is the same with the use
of colors. I'm a bit of a rebel in my own modest way!
Shipsection, 2003 (artist in studio) & Bathyscaphe Trieste, 2010
JR: Where do you collect most of your scraps?
RvdE: Most of my material I find in the streets. I find it myself or my
friends call to report a dumpster/skip with interesting materials.
JR: Have your material sources changed over the years?
RvdE: It has shifted a little bit to buying materials at specialized stores
because not as many material is being thrown away as a couple of years
ago. People are making their own fake Piet Hein Eek furniture with it.
Sometimes I buy stuff from the internet, like in 2008 I bought a lot of
two hundred and fifty antique doors. That makes a full truckload!
JR: Have you developed relationships by collecting scraps from practical woodworkers or other artists?
RvdE: Not really. The scraps have to be old you know.
JR: I know some old woodworkers here in Asheville. Maybe I will send you a few of their scraps.
JR: Some commentaries have attributed a dark industrialism to your work. Is this an atmosphere that you intend to project?
RvdE: Mostly I'm dealing with sculptural qualities. I do not want aesthetics
or style to be dominant in my work. And there is a conceptual side but
not as 'words intended to justify the work', more as a strategy for
possible associations. This becomes especially interesting when pieces
are made in a deliberate combination. I used to work in themed series in
the past. Series of cars for example, a set about polar exploration or
space flight. But in recent years I've started trying on seemingly
illogical combinations to great effect. In the end though, every single
piece will have to be strong enough to survive in the world
individually.
JR: Maybe it's too obvious, but did you play around with On Re-Entry (Burning Log) and Still Life? You know, having them speak to one another at an exhibition?
RvdE: I have not had these pieces together in a show, unfortunately. Mostly my work sells on the first exhibition they are shown in, so not much opportunity to make combinations like that. It's a shame in this case. Both these pieces have a life and death angle that would have made for a nice combination.
JR: Do you have any details or construction shots from those two endeavors?
On Re-Entry (Burning Log), 2010 (construction, details, studio)
RvdE: I did not have any of the Still Life piece, but some nice shots were made by the "Happy Famous Artists" Collective. You should ask their permission though. Tell then I sent you! They can be reached through their blog.
Still Life, 2010 (details via Happy Famous Artists Collective)
JR: You showed "Perishables" at the Armory in NYC in 2011 and, sadly, we missed it. Do you have any upcoming shows in the US?
RvdE: I'll have a solo show in the spring of 2013 with Ambach & Rice Gallery in Los Angeles.
727, 2008 & KO Valkyrie, 2010
JR: I would also like to include this video if you are happy with it:
RvdE: Sure. It's in Dutch though... I would translate but I'm terribly busy right now. At one point I tell the cameraman that I am sawing "a very tricky little piece of wood."
JR: Thank you very much for speaking with me and my community. It was a pleasure to get to know your work.
RvdE: Of course. Let me know if you have any more questions.
