Furniture
Fr. Curry has been making furniture since he was 8 years old when his mother bought him his first power saw. Now, some 50 years later he still loves to sit in front of a pile of wood and imagine what it could become. Not unlike Michelangelo who sat in front of the great stones imagining the forms that lay hidden inside, or the famous American architect Louis Sullivan who when asked by a student how to discover what to do suggested, “Say to the brick, brick, what do you want to be,” so Terry engages in a dialogue with the materials allowing them to influence him as much as he tries to influence them.
Over the years Fr. Curry has explored many ways of thinking about furniture and design. Below are four examples of some styles he has mastered.
2 x 4 Construction
As a rule, 2 x 4 furniture is built with construction grade, nominal lumber and plywood. The hardware tends to be exposed zink plated metal. The joints are clean. The finished pieces are left unfinished: raw.
American Craftsman
Cherry, Mahogony, and Oak are normally used as the primary materials, accented with walnut or ebony, and occasionally curly maple. Screw are rarely exposed in this style. Pegs are used to define important joints and add visual interest. These pieces are normally finished in oil and wax, though Shellack is also possible.
Contemporary
The style combines multilayer Baltic birch plywood with red oak millwork. Stainless steel hardware and aluminum plugs are used throughout. The finish is typically water-based polyurethane.
