Another Giant falls.

[voluptuary_manque]

Sam Maloof is gone. I don't think I'll be here more tonight.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Sam Maloof was a woodworker.

http://media.npr.org/news/images/2009/apr/22/maloof_200.jpg
He is best known for his rocking chairs-- they are iconic.

here's a slideshow of him at work.

he was a meticulous craftsman, and a fine artist. He was pretty much solely responsible for the California modern arts movement.

He built a house like a fairy tale crossed with a High Mountains ranch, room by room as he picked up the money for it.

http://www.craftinamerica.org/artists_wood/pic_24.jpg

He was a good guy. One of my heroes.

 

[Guest]

 

[Belegon]

Honestly, I know very little about him. But what I do know is that he highly valued and supported the vision of an individual craftsman taking something from start to finish.

At 93, his loss is not surprising... but still means the world has lost a great artist.

...although he would probably prefer the other word I used. Craftsman.

 

[slyc_willie]

Honestly, I know very little about him. But what I do know is that he highly valued and supported the vision of an individual craftsman taking something from start to finish.

At 93, his loss is not surprising... but still means the world has lost a great artist.

...although he would probably prefer the other word I used. Craftsman.

I would agree, though I've never heard of the man before now. But, reading the article -- and a few others linked to it -- I feel pretty confident in describing Maloof as a simple man, without an artist's vanity but rather a simple desire to create what he could.

Given enough lifetimes, he could build a monument to rival Angkor Wat or the Great Pyramids, if he so desired. And with only two hands, some wood, and some tools.

The world has too many artists, I think, and not enough craftsmen.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I met him on three different occasions, each time because of woodworking. He was a sweet, charming, humorous man who did things in his shop with his tools that terrified me. For those of you who aren't familiar with power tools, just take my word for it that free-handing a piece of walnut through a bandsaw is not recommended, but he did it every day, six days a week for longer than most of us have been alive. The results bring tears. When you come to SoCal, forget Disneyland or Hollywood and don't pay too much attention to our local art museums. Go to Sam's. His three assistants, his son and his widow will keep the Foundation and the shop going. Visit the home he built by hand. It will make you a better writer.

 

[midwestyankee]

I met him on three different occasions, each time because of woodworking. He was a sweet, charming, humorous man who did things in his shop with his tools that terrified me. For those of you who aren't familiar with power tools, just take my word for it that free-handing a piece of walnut through a bandsaw is not recommended, but he did it every day, six days a week for longer than most of us have been alive. The results bring tears. When you come to SoCal, forget Disneyland or Hollywood and don't pay too much attention to our local art museums. Go to Sam's. His three assistants, his son and his widow will keep the Foundation and the shop going. Visit the home he built by hand. It will make you a better writer.

I think I know a local bear who might make a great companion for that tour.

I read a couple of Sam's books early on and have admired his work since I first got into making sawdust. He, along with Krenov and Frid, helped me define my sense of the good in wood.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

He built chairs like this:

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/1volupturary_manque/maloof-rocker.png

And then morphed them in interesting, amusing and thoroughly practical ways, though this example is by Scott Morrison.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/1volupturary_manque/scott-morrison_rocker_cradle.jpg

 

[voluptuary_manque]

room by room as he picked up the money for it.

Each piece personally selected and shaped, between commissions, like this.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/1volupturary_manque/maloof3.jpg

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Whenever a commission for a cradle came in, all other work would stop because "babies won't wait."

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/1volupturary_manque/Maloofcradle.jpg

 

[voluptuary_manque]

A recent photo of the Maloofs. God grant that we should all age so gracefully.

http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii177/1volupturary_manque/maloof1.jpg