This past week I have spent with chairmaker Curtis Buchanan and his family. We worked on a bird cage arm chair in his back yard shop in Jonesborough, Tn. Curtis has an amazing family who is so giving of their time and energy making you feel like family. Making this chair is only part of the fun. I learned more about organic gardening as well as eating some of the best meals which mostly came from the garden. Curtis has an amazing balance in his life knowing when to work, when to garden, or spend time with friends and family. Even his soil has balance. I have to show his garden below. It takes up the whole back yard. There is no grass to cut.
Curtis' timber frame shop was my inspiration for my own shop after seeing it years ago. His shop keeps looking better with age. I took some pictures to show you how it looks but you have to be there to really get the feel of this one man chairmaking shop.
We had a great week getting lots of chair work done. We drove to the log yard and I picked up an awesome sugar maple for turnings. I can't get good maple in middle Tn like they have near the Appalachians. Curtis liked his table I made for his family. We broke it in right with his mothers incredible Italian cooking. You can see the table below. Notice some of Curtis' chairs around the table, very cool. Thanks again Curtis!
