Picturing it

How closely do you follow plans? If you’re like me, rarely.

I’m not one to follow plans. If there’s something I want to make and plans are available, I might take a look. But they would be tweaked. In my other workshop – the kitchen – I do the same with recipes.

More often than not, my main spark for a project is a photograph. As long as I can see what something looks like and have a rough idea of the size, that’s pretty much all I need. I’ve done hundreds of projects this way. With that in mind, a magazine project assignment last year was right up my alley.

The main point of the project was to build an outdoor project using hemlock. The editor and I kicked it back and forth a bit and we decided on a corner plant stand. Their art director mocked up something in a design program that showed what they had in mind, which you can see on the left.

And that’s all I needed. That simple picture gave me the style, shape and general idea of what they wanted. Meanwhile, the lady sweeping (who appears to have come straight from a Ren Faire), gave me the desired scale. Putting this all together, I came up with what you see on the right side.

Now, had they sent me plans, drawings and exact measurements, that would have been another story. I’ve made pieces this way on request before, and I find it very difficult and a slow process following someone else’s specs exactly. I far prefer this way. Give me a picture, and it’s all I need to get my creative juices flowing.