Opposite: Sam Sheppard at the
bench in the Waters & Acland
workshop. Photo: Ben Butler
This page: Sam Sheppard’s
Jacobsen hall table in wenge
and oak was inspired by work
of Danish painter and sculptor
Robert Jacobsen.http://www.woodreview.com.au 97SS: The design process we are taught
starts with looking for inspiration from
objects outside of the furniture realm,
and I had seen a sculpture on my way
here which formed the starting point
for this project. It took around six
weeks starting with collecting imagery,
then breaking down and sketching
details I liked in the sculptures. The
next stage involved trying to put
these elements together, and after
a multitude of iterations and lots of
tweaking this is what I arrived at. I
definitely see myself in the piece, it’s
unconventional and playful, but (I
hope) still a beautiful functional object.
AWR: Not only was the design complex,
but wenge is not the easiest to work with
either. What were the main challenges
encountered when making the piece?
SS: Wenge certainly is a battle, a lot
of sharpening and slow precise work
is a must. The biggest challenge came
from the interaction of the different
elements, developing methods of
cutting the compound angles that
were created and jointing them with
enough strength required a lot of
testing and experimentation. There
was also a lot of discussion involved in
deciding on the glue-up order which
often required multiple different
elements to come together at once.
AWR: What is the main focus of the
course at Waters & Acland place
that can take people to such a level
in a seemingly little time? Is it their
curriculum, the technical focus or some
particular philosophy that really gets
through to people on a deeper level?
SS: There is a heavy focus on both
sides of the designer/maker moniker
here. Will and Olly control the design
teaching with one on one discussions
throughout the whole process, and
constant pressure to go further, and
refine designs.
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