Gratitude, Passion and Work!

Auto mechanics are fairly accustomed to people wandering into their shops with broken down cars or maybe the number one visitor is trying to find directions somewhere. I've done it, have you?

In my wood shop I am pretty tucked away and if I have my doors shut it often means I'm concentrating! But occasionally I'll get a visitor.

Woodworking is one of those things that many people are curious about. They like to look. Changing out a fuel filter is a bit less romanticized in our culture, wouldn't you say? One day I was busy working on the finish of my Mondrian Inspiration (the post right before this post) and in walks a computer engineer. She immediately was drawn to it, said how beautiful it was, loved touching it, and told me about how it reminded her of circuit boards. I could understand that even with minimal information about circuits. The next time she saw it we closed a deal on making a dining room table specifically with her circuit board designs. She has been designing and building them for about 25 years and has some real favorites. I know, who would think?


I really didn't know what I was delving into. I usually come up with my own designs so I thought this might be an interesting approach. She sent me about 6 or 7 different circuit designs and labeled her all time favorites. We agreed to limit the circuits for cost and I plunged forward into making a collage using her logo. It took a few design attempts and a little back and forth just for me to be able to understand what I was really looking at and I came up with the approved design. I created a couple areas with more circuit density for interest and used some larger circuits to help the eye follow the entire piece.

The table is 85 3/4" long, 42" wide and 2 3/4"" thick with no bottom skirt. I use my own breadboard end design including 18" threaded rod and bolts, a stout through spline and steel plates to attach the legs to allow for movement within the table and the stability to hold it all together.

The piece is a powerful tribute to a lifetime of work and success and reflects the passion she maintains about her own creations. It is very exciting to use my own skills and creativity to reflect another persons enthusiasm for their own work. What a tremendous treat! I love what I do and right now I feel such gratitude for the opportunity to do the work. There are all kinds of things that can get in the way of us following our dreams. Clearing the way one obstacle at a time and creating the opportunity to use all of ourselves in our work to share with others is exciting and fulfilling beyond words on the page.

For an even more personal touch I added her own logo design. Cool logo, cool idea, gorgeous table!

I hope you enjoy looking and reading about this project. Feel free to leave me your comments below and follow my blog to read about the projects I don't even know about yet!