It has, for me, always been functional art that has had a distinct appeal. This inclination began unwittingly as a young dentist when I noticed a curious pleasure while sculpting teeth, became more overt and took on a larger scale as a boat builder (and world-cruising sailor), and, for the past 12 years, this infatuation with functional artistry has blossomed as a designer and maker of furniture.

There is something about the defined challenge of achieving perfect function and also timeless, universally appealing esthetics in one piece; to realize the profound truth that form follows function. And, as a furniture maker/designer, I have discovered that no other category of furniture offers more of a challenge, or more reward, than chairs. Chairs, including their more lofty cousin the stool, provide the opportunity to be truly sculptural with their 360 degree exposure and their ubiquitous presence in our lives.

And with the chair’s high level of intimate contact, no other item of furniture can match it’s functionality. Accordingly, the ergonomics of chairs, how they fit our bodies, has become an obsession for me. The working chair, either involving desk or dining, demands close tolerances in the angles of recline and seat angle such that the sitter is only just “held” (requiring zero energy to