Six years ago we salvaged a piece of local maple which had seen better days and repaired it with bits of epoxy filler in various shades of blue. The result reminded us of a desert landscape in the aftermath of a rainstorm, when the creeks are temporarily filled with water. This was the second of two hydrology-themed tables, inspired by my 20-year daytime career as a hydrologist.
But the old base never seemed right for this top, so this summer we separated the two and explored other base ideas for this top. The next picture is a progress photo of what we came up with. The base is an irregular block of red oak burl, combined with slanted uprights in plain steel, that give the new table a windswept look and provide a light, open contrast with the heavy block below.
And here’s a shot of the finished table. The base is hollowed out on the side facing the camera, which makes us think of the slot canyons in Death Valley: another western desert reference. So we’ve christened this the Canyonlands Table.
And what became of the old base? It acquired a top that suits it better, with a nice overhang all round. The new top is made from a pair of red oak burl pieces, which have a shape that makes this the Butterfly Table. The inside edges of the two burls are each curved, in harmony with the irregular edges but also reflecting the curved ends of the base.
Incidentally, the red oak burl is from the same stock as the new base for the Canyonlands Table. In this case, of course, the burls are finely sanded and most voids filled with transparent epoxy. We continue to appreciate the wood from that tree, which came our way in 2014.
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