Featured Member: David Fobes

We caught up with David to hear more about his back­ground and inter­ests within the furniture field.

Tell us a little about your­self — where you’re based and how you got started making furniture.

I have lived in San Diego, Cali­for­nia, since 1975, when I trans­ferred to San Diego State
Univer­sity to study Envi­ron­men­tal Design with the vision­ary archi­tect Eugene Ray.
My fasci­na­tion with wood­work­ing began around age six, helping my father, an amateur
wood­worker, with his home furni­ture projects. By twelve or thir­teen, my brother and I were using his Crafts­man radial-arm saw to build our own odd projects. By the time I reached San Diego State, I had a prac­ti­cal famil­iar­ity with tools, mate­ri­als, and making.

As an elec­tive, I took a furni­ture class with Larry Hunter, who was then becom­ing known for his distinc­tive bent and stack-lami­nated func­tional objects. One of Larry’s guest speak­ers was sculp­tor Michael Jean Cooper. I was floored by his skill and imag­i­na­tion, and his work expanded my under­stand­ing of what furni­ture and wood­work­ing could be.

In 1978, Eugene Ray hired several students, includ­ing me, to build his studio and home in La Jolla, ​“The Silver Ship,” from the ground up. The project was trans­for­ma­tive, giving me the oppor­tu­nity to work directly with an archi­tect whose ideas chal­lenged conven­tional approaches to design and construc­tion. I subse­quently worked as a crafts­man and builder for a variety of creative local architects.

In 1983, I estab­lished a work-live studio in down­town San Diego, before the Gaslamp
rede­vel­op­ment, when rents were cheap. I began making furni­ture proto­types in earnest while taking commis­sions. In 1985, I had my first solo exhi­bi­tion at Patty Aande Gallery. The exhi­bi­tion gener­ated the X‑Cases, which were subse­quently included in the Newport Harbor Art Museum’s ​“Future Furni­ture” exhibition.

In 1991, after produc­ing a substan­tial body of work, I enrolled in the SDSU Grad­u­ate Furni­ture program, led by Wendy Maruyama. Her empha­sis was not so much on how to make, but on what to make and why. Wendy intro­duced her students to makers, galleries, and exhi­bi­tion oppor­tu­ni­ties. I remain great friends with her and am forever thank­ful for her unique influ­ence on my journey as a maker.

What inspired your latest body of work? And who are some of your inspi­ra­tions for furniture making?

“Inspi­ra­tion is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.” — Chuck
Close

It is a rather flip­pant answer to the ques­tion, but I think the senti­ment is right. If you wait for inspi­ra­tion, you may never get to work. I have always believed that ​“work makes work.” At this point in my career, I have far more ideas than I could possi­bly finish in my life­time. The chal­lenge is simply to get into the studio and be produc­tive every day. Making some­thing often leads to the next idea; the work itself becomes a form of research.

I have many art heroes, and they are not limited to furni­ture makers. I have always been inter­ested in artists and makers who approach mate­ri­als, form, and ideas in uncon­ven­tional ways. Some have had a direct influ­ence on my think­ing, while others simply remind me of the possi­bil­i­ties of making.

Among the makers and design­ers I return to are Wendy Maruyama, Tom Loeser, Michael Hurwitz, Roseanne Sommer­son, Ed Zucca, Michael Jean Cooper, Roy McMakin, Jim Iser­mann, Char­lotte Perriand, Carlo Mollino, Frank Gehry, and Martin Puryear. My current paint­ing heroes include Lari Pittman, Bridget Riley, Mark Brad­ford, Jeffrey
Gibson, and Jack Whitten.

What does being a member of the furni­ture commu­nity, and specif­i­cally The Furni­ture Society, mean to you?

I was an early member of FS, attend­ing and present­ing at FS98, FS01, and FS02, and later serving as a co-orga­nizer for FS05 in San Diego with Stef­fanie Dotson and Katherine Ortega.

In those early days, before social media, the confer­ences provided a rare oppor­tu­nity to meet some of the stars of the Studio Furni­ture move­ment and, equally impor­tant, to connect with other like-minded artists and makers. At FS01 at Arizona State Univer­sity, I had the chance to have break­fast with Sam Maloof. I was completely star-struck, but we had a brief and sincere conver­sa­tion that I still remem­ber. It was just one memo­rable moment among many.

Although I have not been as active in FS in recent years, the FS website contin­ues to be a valu­able resource for me. I enjoy discov­er­ing makers who are new to me and learn­ing about their indi­vid­ual jour­neys through making. In many ways, that spirit of connect­ing people through their work remains what I value most about FS.

Tell us about your preferred way of connect­ing with clients and customers. Do you sell online, attend shows, fairs, or markets, or primar­ily accept custom work?

My website, mister​fobes​.com, does gener­ate some traffic, but I also use an excel­lent plat­form called Artwork Archive, which has become the archive and data­base for most of my work. I can create specific ​“rooms” of work and send them to clients, museums, and galleries when they are consid­er­ing my work. It is far more effec­tive than sending JPEGs, and certainly light-years removed from sending out 35mm slides — remember slides?

I have not been partic­u­larly success­ful selling work online. Most sales still come through galleries or word of mouth. I do take on commis­sions, but only when I feel the project aligns with my design vision and the clients are willing to take some risks.
I have never been inter­ested in craft shows. I have nothing against them; they’re simply not my thing. My work has always existed some­where between art, craft, design, and archi­tec­ture, and I have gener­ally preferred to let the work find its audi­ence through exhi­bi­tions, galleries, commis­sions, and personal connections.

Do you have a specific joinery tech­nique, favorite tool, or favorite wood that you like to use? Why is it your favorite?

My project mate­ri­als can range from wood, card­board, aluminum, acrylic, plywood, and paper to paint. Each project requires its own variety of tools and tech­niques, so it would be diffi­cult to name a favorite. For wood projects, I try to use hard­woods that aren’t in espe­cially high demand. Right now, cherry and maple seem to be good choices. Both are rela­tively stable, work­able, and economical.

I prefer simple, struc­turally sound joinery — open mortise-and-tenon and tradi­tional mortise-and-tenon joints. I also use a Festool Domino cutter to make float­ing mortise-and-tenon joints. Most of my furni­ture is painted, so the joinery needs to be sound, straight­for­ward, and work­man­like rather than deco­ra­tive. I’m usually chomp­ing at the bit to get through the construc­tion and arrive at the painted surface. That’s where the piece really begins to come alive for me.

Check out David’s profile page and website.