Woodworkers of Midcoast Maine
December 1, 2005 - March 2, 2006
Curator’s Statement
This show stays close to home. All work has been done by woodworkers living within a fifty-mile radius of the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, and all pieces have been completed within the last year. But limiting time and place have in no way limited the kinds of work we see here; Midcoast Maine is a diverse and surprising region.
Pieces range from the straightforward—spare and elegantly turned bowls—to the intricate—a small cabinet bravely perched on top of a stack of moveable, balancing arms. They go from the traditional—a beautifully carved Queen Anne chair—to the fanciful—a coffee table imagined in the shape of a tree. Some objects are utilitarian—a sturdy and comfortable bench; some are intended only to amuse and delight—a charming snake and a carved and painted plaque featuring a feeding heron.
Some of the woodworkers are familiar names; some are newcomers. All these artists and furniture makers have learned their craft well; the high level of the workmanship is the show’s one consistent element. The exhibition, then, is really a celebration—a neighborhood get-together and an acknowledgment of a flourishing, growing community.
—Deborah Weisgall, Guest Curator
