Blackstone Design

Handshaped, original and custom furniture by Mark Wedekind

Biography

I have been working wood in Alaska since I moved to Anchorage in the winter of '93-'94. The previous five years, I built furniture and resided in northern Utah.

I am self taught in woodworking and furniture design.

Although furniture is my form, my inspiration often comes from shapes and patterns that I see in nature. A piece of driftwood, roots wrapping around a rock, the way a tree will deal with the challenges of living in the natural world provide interesting models for shapes in a practical piece of furniture. Lines and shapes found in nature are pleasing to everyone and I find its perspective, curves, flowing lines and asymmetry more appealing and timeless than straight, square and predictable. My designs have become more organic over the years as I figure out new ways of suggesting these lines and successfully using them in a piece of furniture. I must still work in the parameters that have been tried-and-true, but I am constantly pushing those parameters to both challenge myself and to not be limited to designs of the past.

A tree's growing environment is expressed in the grain of it's wood and tells a story of what it endured. I enjoy using this character to enhance the design of a piece of furniture. When I am able to let the lumber tell its story, I sometimes find that the design will almost work itself out. A piece will seem to have its own story this way and develop its own unique character.

Function and craftsmanship are as important as form in the furniture I build. A chair that looks good, but is not comfortable is not successful. In order for my pieces to still be enjoyed and used generations from now, I consider all aspects of function, form and durability. The words of the late jazz musician Charlie Mingus express it well for me, "Anybody can make the simple complicated, creativity is making the complicated simple."