sunflower cabinet

This contrast between subtlety and boldness was obvious to me while designing this cabinet. Repeatedly taking one step toward noticeable attention and another step bringing the raw materials back into harmony. A large heavy piece with tenons big and protruding and thick legs, yet surrounded by soft, creamy wood.

It sits high above other flowers with it's face turned directly into the sun, scorched and loving it.

The style is Craftsman, usually seen in the dark oak, Spanish mission furniture but the Douglas fir of this cabinet is gentle and light in color, decidedly modern. The yellow satinwood of the sunflower is reflective and harmonizes with the yellow fir, but the ebony is flat and jarring. It draws all light toward itself, almost like a dark cave. The doors also give this impression. The bottom one inset as if an entrance to a hidden space away from the direct sunlight and into a cool dark getaway.

The marquetry is bold and at a height that is in your face. Perhaps, a trite decoration but slightly off center and oddly large. The sunflower, obviously beautiful yet an anomaly. It is so big as to be a “freak” in the flower world, its surface not subtle and delicate but dry and coarsely strong. It sits high above other flowers with it's face turned directly into the sun, scorched and loving it.