Miniature Rustic Twig Furniture by George C. Clark: My Miniature Rustic Twig Rocking Horse Workshop at Shake Rag Alley Last Weekend

I make my furniture from twigs and Lake Michigan driftwood, shells, stones, bark, seed pods and other natural materials. The challenge is to fabricate objects that require a certain form and symmetry, like chairs, for example, out of materials that are by nature randomly and organically shaped. I seek out the gnarliest twigs and pieces of driftwood, the curved, forked or twisted ones, because they make the most interesting furniture. No two of my chairs are ever alike in construction, although they are all identical in function. They embody the spirit of rustic design by using found or natural materials instead of manufactured ones, and at the same time evoke the many folk tales and legends of the little people of the forest. I have a lot of fun making them.

The little tables' tops are 5 inches above the surface they are standing on, and the chairs are scaled in proportion to that size.

You can email me at gcc@georgecclark.com

Tuesday, July 14, 2015

My Miniature Rustic Twig Rocking Horse Workshop at Shake Rag Alley Last Weekend

Every July the Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, hosts a 4-day WOODLANDERS GATHERING featuring classes and workshops in the rustic arts, including everything from blacksmithing to jewelry making using natural materials like stone, fibers, shells, and wood. I have been teaching workshops in miniature rustic twig furniture there for several years now, and last Saturday we made miniature driftwood twig rocking horses. Here are some photos from the workshop taken by me and my wife Pat. That's me in the Hawaiian shirt.