I have always preferred that raw, natural look of wood pieces. I'm not one to paint an old wood table cerulean or shalaque an amazing piece of driftwood. Unfortunately for me, the prices of these magnificent, rugged finds are soaring from the sudden influx of that ever-so-careless, out-doorsy style (common with anthropologie fans). Just look on eBay! Driftwood coffee tables are selling like hot cakes for anywhere from $200-$1100. Good think I'm near a beach, eh?The contrast between mama nature's beauty and man's modern design has been tried many a time but few designers have managed to both capture the design and preserve the woodwork simultaneously. There is, However, one designer I know who can do both these things and do it well: George Nakashima. Now working with his daughter Mira Yarnall, the two have come up with some stunning pieces.
As the daughter of the woodworker extraordinaire, Mira has grown up around some pretty unique, one-of-a-kind structures, yet little has been said about Mira and her career. Ever since my dad mentioned George's designs four years ago, I'd been a Nakashima devotee. I only found out he even had a daughter a few months ago so I was psyched to find this interview with her!
"The woodworker's responsibility is to the tree itself," says George Nakashima in Design Boom's interview. "[The tree] has been sacrificed to live again in the woodworker's hands." Now if that isn't some potent passion, I don't know what is.
