Guest Blogger: An Artisan’s Enduring Beauty for Wood

Entry #2277, April 9, 2013

I love wood! Sounds odd but being someone interested in the outdoors I have always been fascinated by the components of nature and wood in particular is an amazing material; the huge variety of colours, textures and the fact it comes from trees that have often lived for hundreds of years adds to the wonder of this incredibly durable, flexible material. In recent years we have had to become more conscious of our use of this wonderful substrate as we battle to ensure sustainability of our forests and green spaces. This has led to the increased use of alternative materials for the creation of furniture and interiors. I am passionate about creating art with function through my furniture and interior designs and although I have used metal, glass, granite and other materials that I will always return to the wonderfully versatile wood I first started working with.

Lewis Designs: Wood wall end feature

All images via: Lewis Designs

I am a self-taught designer and initially I was inspired by picking up pieces of driftwood and figuring out how I could transform them into unique items for my home that I would love and that would represent my passions and interests. As my creative ideas grew influenced by an eclectic love of horror, nature and science fiction I started exploring the use of hardwoods, some of my favourites of which include Oak, Elm, Zebrano and Walnut.

The Arachnitab:

Its not difficult to guess where my inspiration came from when I created this table. I find spiders and insects so interesting and will outlive us all through their ability to adapt and survive. I love to make pieces which have a character of their own and this piece is made from English brown oak burr and with a zebrano wood centre for the table top, it’s got the natural edges left which have been sand blasted. The legs are lazer cut from mild steel then powder coated in textured matt black, I’ve had enquiries for titanium legs and also Gold plated which are all possible – the variations on this design are endless.

Arachnitab

The Zebra Swiss jigsaw mirror:

Made from black walnut and American white oak developed from several eclectic sources of inspiration; the components fit together like a jigsaw the holes are reminiscent of Swiss cheese and the copper wire stitching is taken from one of the scariest horror characters of all time – Leather Face from the Texan Chainsaw Massacre! A mirror should provide the focal point of a room and should be as good to look at as well as to look into!

Zebra Swiss jigsaw mirror

I created the Oak Swiss Jigsaw Ceiling Rose to match some wooden coving. Although it is made from a traditional wood it is contemporary in its look and design and I love the shadow created between the rose and the ceiling.

Oak Swiss Jigsaw Ceiling Rose

One of my favourite creations is the Arachnicab:

A cabinet standing on two legs, my idea of a cross between a spider and an Alien that is also very handy to store my jeans in! It’s made from European Oak that has been lightly scorched with a blow torch and the door has been double stitched down the centre with metal wire.

I have taken a traditional material and used it to create unique, modern designs which hopefully demonstrate to all the enduring beauty and versatility of wood.

Arachnicab

Hi, I’m Malcolm Lewis a UK based self-taught designer of furniture and interior features from Lewis Designs.  I showed a flair for creative drawing from a young age, and my passion for art and design developed into a love for crafting from wood which inspired me to hone my skills to enable the conversion of my design creations into beautiful interior pieces combining art with function.

All my unique designs are lovingly hand made and due to the nature of the design no two pieces are the same. My meticulous attention to detail inspirational design and use of quality materials mean that each piece is designed and hand made to last for generations to come. You can follow me on Twitter, here.

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