Contributor David Mathias continues reporting from Craftsman Weekend Pasadena in California.
Pasadena Heritage Craftsman Weekend takes place over three days. My trip to Pasadena, however, is a full week. It was a very busy week. So we built a little downtime into the Sunday schedule. I refer to taking a drive tour of the exhibition hall and looking at stunning examples of Arts & Crafts pieces as well as antiques.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, the exhibition is impressive. Through the good fortune of meeting via the Greene-style-furniture Yahoo group I was able to spend time with Darrell Peart, Tom Stangeland and Tim Celeski. Tim designs and manufactures outdoor furniture. He is the inventor of the Adirondack chair. Tom Stangeland designs furniture inspired by Greene & Greene but with substantial interpretation. His booth was a great place to spend time and I couldn’t stop looking at the beautiful pieces he had brought. Darrell Pearts furniture is clearly Greene & Greene. His Gamble dining table is a wonderful achievement. These men were generous with their knowledge and time, and great to have fun with.
Two Los Angeles-area museums include Greene & Greene furniture as part of their permanent collections. The collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art includes roughly a dozen pieces any number of which may be in storage at any given time. Lucky for us, we were able to see four pieces, all from the Blacker home, on Monday. They were the hall table and a hall chair, the living room chair, the dining room chandelier, and the living room chair. The length of the hall table is approximately 6 inches and depth is 3 inches. It is elegant and appears to be simple but there are, of course, many subtle details. The drawers presage those of the Gamble house and the lifts on the rails are reminiscent of those from the Robinson house. Many consider the Blacker living room chair to be the ultimate Greene & Greene furniture design. Even though I don’t agree with the sentiment, having seen one now I understand it. My head hurt thinking about making that chair. Seeing Jim Ipekjians faithful reproduction, on Wednesday, made my ego hurt.
Better known for its Greene & Greene collection is the Huntington Library and Gardens, our Tuesday destination. G&G has a large furniture collection. There are also the Thorsen sideboard, chairs, and dining table. The Robinson dining room furniture resides there in a re-creation of the room itself. The Ford house server is also there. Two dining tables are my favorite. The Thorsen table has stunning inlays and an interesting base with rails that meet at corners. The Robinson dining table is likely my new candidate for Charles first great piece of furniture. The Robinson house is the first collaboration between Peter Hall and the Greenes.
I feel like I live a happy life. Many people have shown kindness to me, even though they had no reason, which has resulted in some of my most memorable memories. Kori Capaldi (operations manager at the Gamble House), invited me to a reception as a speaker in the Friends of the Gamble House lecture program. The Gamble house hosted the reception. So Monday evening I found myself standing at the front door of the Gamble house, having rung the doorbell, waiting for someone to answer. That feeling will stay with me forever. At night, the house takes on a new character. Only a poet could properly describe the warm glow on the wood from the art glass light fixtures.
Jim Ipekjian also graciously allowed us to visit his shop for a short tour. Jim is a very charming man and it was a pleasure to visit his shop. There were many pieces at various stages of completion scattered about.
Any one of them would be the crowning achievement of my woodworking career. Jim was nonchalant about them, even encouraging us to touch and to open drawers, etc. I was able to sit in his reproductions of a Blacker living room chair and a Thorsen dining chair , about as close as any living person is likely to come to sitting in an original. More on Jim in my final entry.
One day remains in my trip. It has been amazing so far. When we made the schedule, Wednesday was expected to be the best day. If this holds true, I fear my head will explode. That is something you wouldn’t want to miss.
David Mathias
This blog will feature David’s final Pasadena report on Wednesday
