The two chairs shown on the next page were sponsored by Cleveland Amory for an interior design show. Two main passions in his life were protecting wildlife and playing chess. He requested a room be designed with these those themes.
I designed, built and wove the upholstery for the two chess chairs: "Bird in the Reeds," and "Zebra Chair (Save a Zebra's Hide, Give a Weaver Work)."
2.
Tapestry Coats.
One day it occurred to me that I could design myself a hand-dyed tapestry
coat with a hand-painted lining. I thought how durable it would be. The
idea of it traveling with me into old age was hugely appealing. A coat
of memories. To make a long story short, wearing it on the streets of
San Francisco caused people to stop me to ask about it. Eventually I made
coats for Art to Wear stores and I. Magnin & Co. Designer Dept. However,
I discovered I am not a fashion person. Most of the clientele commissioning/buying
the coats did not think of them as heirloom material. And I was completely
disinterested in making pieces in the next season's designer colors -
or in designing new coat shapes just to have something new. Thus my brief
coatmaking history came to an end.
3. Ram Dragon
O boy. Here we go. I was invited into The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's Artists' Soap Box Derby. The goal was to design a, uh, 'vehicle' that would get down a curvy hill in McLaren Park the fastest. My goal was to get down the hill in once piece. Which I did. (hurrah!) However the sparklers I set into the woven hide of the 'car' did set a small portion of the 'vehicle' on fire - and the smoke bombs made driving difficult. But no harm was done.
