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Bill Whipple
ARTIST STATEMENT: “I love it when apparently
conflicting subject come into confluence and
harmoniously create something bigger than their
conflict.
“As a craftsman, musician and dancer, I strive to bring a
celebration of these muses into form. My intention is to
create objects that bring the vitality and energy of song
and dance to furnishing where people dwell.
“I have been designing and building furniture in the
southern Appalachian Mountains for over 20 years. In
the last couple of years, I have been featured in articles
in Woodshop News, Fiddler Magazine and Old-time
Herald with images appearing in national publications
of Southern Living and American Style magazine. My
latest inclusion was a piece in the Owensburg Museum
of Fine Art.”
Whipple has recently been developing a new body of
work, combining metal and wood, materials that he
finds to be complementary. “After working a material
that was as idiosyncratic and unpredictable as wood,
metal’s clean, dense, neutral uniformity is unfamiliar in
its reliability. This opens an entirely new world of
design; all of a sudden, I am designing and building
furniture with completely new rules. Metal has far fewer
rules as metal’s strength and malleability gives me
freedom to express curves and dimensions that wood
does not allow. Because of the strength of metal, less
material is needed, allowing lighter, elegant lines that
trace the design of the wood.
“Still, I hold onto wood as a jeweler would covet his
precious stones for their warmth, character and
individuality; leaving the metal as the frame to set the
wood off as the centerpiece. I consider my new line of
metal and wood furniture jewelry for the home.
“While mixing the contrasting subjects of wood and
metal, I have the simultaneous pursuit of ikebana – the
art of Japanese flower arranging. I have taken much of
the aesthetics and lines of traditional ikebana and
applied them to my metal and wood furniture design. I
call this new line “Mori,” after one of the traditional
arrangement styles, Moribana. Light, elegant and
balanced, with enough tension to keep the viewer
engaged and enriched, I seek to connect the dots of
perceived differences into a timeless feeling of harmony
and togetherness.”
Whipple applies a dark patina to the steel, and then
finishes with final coats of tung oil. He protects the wood
with an environmentally friendly water based lacquer,
making it resistant to water and wear.
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