Urban Forestry & Horticulture Conference

Feb 24

This was my first time I've been invited to exhibit at the (15th) Annual Urban Forestry & Horticulture Conference, and I had a blast. These guys certainly seem to appreciate what I'm doing, and generally understand the beauty of nature. There were some great educational conferences going on all day. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to give the event my undivided attention, having to leave the conference a couple of times throughout the day. (If you look closely, just to the left of Mayor Irons, sits my 220 year old oak slab from the m.b. church in Athens).

Robin Wade

Robin Wade Furniture is a celebration of nature—a melding of a forward thinking commitment to the environment and a quiet, harmonious design aesthetic. From his "slow studio" in North Alabama, award-winning wood artist Robin Wade designs and crafts one-of-a-kind handmade furniture. Years before a piece is ready to enter a client's home or a gallery, the process begins—naturally—with the tree. Sustainably harvested, each specimen of hardwood is flitch sawn into natural-edge wood slabs, debarked by hand with a draw knife, and stacked to dry, usually for years, before the final cure in the kiln. From here, Wade and his team use both hand and power tools to bring Wade's vision to life, and then finish each piece with a hand-rubbed oil blend. Each organic furniture creation by Robin Wade Furniture balances the raw, natural beauty of environmentally, locally sourced hardwoods with minimally invasive, clean lines—a juxtaposition Wade calls both rustic and modern. “I haven’t yet found a better artist than nature,” he says.

robinwadefurniture.com

Urban Forestry & Horticulture Conference

two oak slab tables ready for a tung oil rubbing

oak slab desk no. 2 in the finishing room