Artistry in Wood at Sonoma County Museum

If you’re inclined to think of wood and wooden furniture just in terms of utility, the annual Artistry in Wood exhibit at the Sonoma County Museum in Santa Rosa, California is a cure for that.

It’s an annual event, created by the museum together with the Sonoma County Woodworkers’ Association. The works shown are first selected by jurors, and later judged for prizes; this year’s show was the 36th annual presentation.

Thomas Stockton—Japanese Anemone Cabinet

A wide variety of woods, both common and exotic are in the pieces, chosen for appearance, or characteristics, or sometimes, availability. This piece, titled Vandorf the Great, was created by Bennett Ewing from found driftwood, adhesives, and pin-nails. Nothing was carved or colored; the head represents six years of trial and error to fit the pieces as we see them.

There’s a story to this bit of non-furniture, which is actually a cabinet for an audio player playing internet radio. Friends in Los Angeles in the 1940s, Aldous Huxley asked Igor Stravinsky, obviously an expert in sound, to help him buy a good radio. Stephen Hammer imagines the search in marquetry.

Musical instruments are another category in the show; several of the woodworkers produce instruments for orchestras and soloists that are more than just beautiful. The two co-winners for Best of Musical Instruments are here.

Steven Zahavi Schwartz—7+5-String Fretless Guitar

Several of Carruthers’ instruments were played with Coco Jones at this year’s Super Bowl; an interview with him about his unusual instruments is here. The fluted cello is played near the end of the video.

Perhaps the most unusual entry in the show was this one, called Mistakes Were Made, by Michael Cooper. Inside the molded birch plywood body is a Harley-Davidson shovelhead engine—and not much room for a driver to sit.