Favorite Daughter

My beautiful sister serenading my beautiful father in the last hours of his life and singing together just months before.

Dad often called my only sister "Favorite Daughter". They loved to sing together and when she came to visit she would bring along a notebook of the songs he knew. His repertoire and harmonizing prowess were from his college days of barber shop quartets and glee clubs. Hers began with the Peter, Paul, and Mary folk scene of the sixties and grew along those lines.

I remember the early days of the family driving home at night and the car was full of song. And every family gathering for the last decades has been graced by music led by Dad and favorite daughter.

Coffee Table II

This is the second making of a coffee table that I designed last year. The beautiful ceramic vessel in this version is made by Bauman Stoneware of Warsaw, IN.

The idea behind the design was to bring focus to the inside of a vessel. The 3/8" circular glass insert is a portal to the bottom of the bowl, a window to the well. The insert can be removed and replaced with the vessel, possibly serving its functional role. The bowl's low profile makes it integral to the table top.

I love how a change in wood, and the wood's color, changes the feel of this design. In the one done in quarter-sawn white oak I got a mission style southwestern vibe and chose the vessel with that in mind. The first version done in walnut seemed somewhat Asian and more formal.

This bowl is made by Kerry Brooks of Dock6Pottery, Minneapolis, MN.