Furniture

In fall 2011, when jettisoning decades’ old office furniture, I needed a wall partition to hide many computer wires that would now be exposed. I took pen in hand and designed the following:

A wall of tree slices! Over 25 square feet of nature, hundreds of pieces, adhered together with some polyurethane-sounding-polysyllabic-better-not-eat-it substance. But I didn’t have the tools to make such items. I finally connected with a cabinetmaker who was willing to put together such a wall per my design, but for a fee I was not prepared to undertake. Melina, then 17-years-old, for whom I had made a tree house over six years earlier, advised: “Dad, you should build your own!” And, so, starting at the beginning of 2012, I created a dowel wall partition, and dowel tables began. (For the full story, see Artist’s Bio at https://artofdowel.com/packinwood_50.pdf). The tabletops of my dowel tables could become wall art pieces in themselves, and so “Continuum” became the first wall art proper (2013), and even “Big Bang Blue" (2015), which could “double” as both tabletop and wall art, subsequently became solely wall art.

Wall Partition ©2012 Michael Baron

40" x 95" x 1 3/4" with The Bean

The Bean ©2012 Michael Baron

End table (18" x 26.5" x 20") consisting of pine dowel uprights and over 2,000 cherry, birch, maple, oak, poplar, walnut, and mahogany dowel pieces of 1/4-1" diameter. Glass top not included in photo.

WoodEye ©2012 Michael Baron

Smile-shaped end table (26" x 32" x 20") with pine dowel uprights and over 4,000 cherry, birch, maple, oak, poplar, walnut, and mahogany dowel pieces of 1/4" - 1" diameter with turquoise accent. Glass top not included in photo.

Starburst ©2012 Michael Baron

Corner table (32" x 32" x 20") comprised of pine dowel uprights and over 5,000 dowel pieces of 1/4” – 1” diameter, primarily of mahogany and birch, with turquoise accents. Glass top not included in photo.

Details From Starburst ©2012 Michael Baron

Bosque 2012 ©2012 Michael Baron

Jalapeño-shaped coffee table (26.5" x 43.5" x 20") with pine dowel uprights and over 5,000 cherry, birch, maple, oak, poplar, walnut, and mahogany dowel pieces of 1/4" - 1" diameter. Blue band consists of 66 name plates of Bosque School (Albuquerque, NM) seniors. Glass top not included in photo.

Detail from Bosque 2012 ©2012 Michael Baron

End tables (18" x 26.5" x 20") consisting of pine dowel uprights and over 2,000 mahogany and birch dowel pieces of 1/4-1" diameter, with turquoise accents. Glass top not included in photo.

"2.5-Dimensional functional art." Wall art and tabletop 48" diameter x 1.5", consisting of over 4,000 pieces of turquoise, wood beads, 1/4" - 1 3/8" diameter pine, mahogany, and birch dowel and 1"-2"-length rectangular wood pieces. Tablebottom 24" x 24" x 18" with 1 3/8" pine dowels and birch plywood. Glass top not included in photo.