Yes, I received your letter yesterday.

Maine Wood Biennial, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Rockport Maine

An alternative view.

(December 5, 2009) An admirable throng congregated yesterday evening at Peter Korn’s Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport for the opening of the Maine Wood 2010 Biennial. The twenty works by sixteen artist-woodworkers inspired spirited conversation, and the hospitality was gracious.

In size, the works ranged from Libby Schrum’s intricate and intimate Jewelry Box to Lin Lisberger’s Two Bridges, a 12-foot tall sculpture of mostly unworked twigs and sticks in the shape of two ladders twisting upward, with two ladderlike bridges connecting them. Ms. Lisberger apparently didn’t miss Martin Puryear’s exhibition a couple of years ago at the Museum of Modern Art. Schrum’s Jewelry Box was actually two boxes, each suspended on either side of a small pedestal support. Rather than having lids, the boxes open by means of maple-burl shells that slide off to the right and left. Inside each, removing an upper tray gives access to additional space. The piece has very graceful lines and was perfectly finished, rewarding the eyes and fingertips as an example of interactive sculpture. But I wondered how well it would work as a jewelry box. A simpler construction might have rendered the work more user friendly. This view, however, was overruled by other attendees who selected Schrum’s piece for the People’s Choice award by a ballot taken during the opening.

Seven sponsors donated more than $2,000 worth of prizes in seven categories at the event. Winners in Outstanding Craftsmanship, Best Use of Veneer, Most Creative, Best New Maker, Best in Furniture, and Best in Show were selected by a three-person jury representing active woodworkers, museum curators, and the woodworking press.

The evening’s big winner was David Boyle of Bath, Maine for his two-drawer cabinet, “Home From the Sea,” built of hophornbeam, walnut, poplar, lilac, maple and glass. The work won both the Jurors’ Best in Show and Outstanding Craftsmanship awards. The piece caught my eye from afar. Its consists of a 35-inch high by 56-inch wide by 29-inch deep frame made of narrow hophornbeam logs sawn in half lengthwise, leaving a live edge opposite the sawn surface. The frame captures the walnut top rather than supporting it from underneath. A nest of lilac and maple branches serves as a lower stretcher and supports the casework, which was made of poplar and finished with a wash coat of milk paint. The hophornbeam of the legs and rails is a handsome, light-colored wood that Boyle worked to a fine smooth finish on the cut side, and also a fine, but longitudinally textured finish (apparently with a wire brush) on the live side. Boyle’s affection for the wood was obvious in his intricate joinery and the fine finish he gave the piece. Looking at each of the various details up close rewarded your gaze. But as a whole there was too much going on, at least for these eyes. He tried, and evidently succeeded, in pulling off all his best tricks in one fell swoop. My problem was that all the tricks didn’t play all that well together. In accepting the second of his two awards of the night, the artisan exclaimed, "I feel like I'm that Boyle woman on TV!"

My personal favorite won no award other than my vote, as far as I know. It was the solid cherry Seed Pod Vessel by Chris Steiner of Thomaston, Maine. Steiner carved the 43-inch long, 18-inch high, 8-inch wide open pitcher out of a single piece of curly cherry, centering the richly colored heartwood along the vessel’s long axis. Light tan sapwood appears like gunwales along the vessel’s sides, petering out at the fiddlehead handle and the elegant spout. As it was carved out of a single piece of wood no joinery was involved, which possibly explains why it won no award. But I admired the evident affection and skill Steiner took in not only choosing his workpiece but in expressing its innate character as well. His work brought one’s attention more elegantly than any other in the show to the beauty that was in the wood to begin with.

All items from the show can be seen at http://www.woodschool.org/gallery/mainewood2010/index.html .