Duncan Gowdy

Brook Cabinets continues my affinity for using imagery in my work. My camera is just as an important tool as my table saw or set of gouges.

A few days after my father died, my wife, Elizabeth, and I were walking outside my former studio. As we walked over a bridge that crossed a brook, I took notice of the contrast of snow and partially iced-over brook. It created such a stark contrast, and it visually expressed my emotions at the time. The left cabinet is the brook facing upstream, while the right cabinet is the view facing downstream.

I grew up as the artist in my family. I recall using an opaque projector in grade school to transfer images. As a budding illustration major in undergraduate school, I used water colors quite a bit. I have combined these two skills in the work that I have been making for the past six years. I transfer my images from photographs that I have takenonto wood. The staining technique that I use has similar effect as water colors.

The tonal changes and layered carving in Brook Cabinets represents a variation on themes in my body of work. I wanted to have as much contrast as possible between the white, mid-tone, and dark area without masking the wood grain. I achieved this by having two distinct carved areas, and increasing the number of applications of stain.

As my use of images evolved, I departed from opaquely painted wood and began to use transparent stain. When I began making furniture, I painted several layers to cover up the wood. Over the years, I have developed a greater appreciation for wood in its, for the most part, natural state. Staining allows me to use color, but it lets the grain show. Not only for flat areas, but also highlights the carved areas. I usually finish the casework of pieces in oil. This essentially frames in the carved facade.

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