Apparently, this burl had been harvested in California sometime in the 1950's, and has been passed from one owner to the next for the last 60 years or so. At least, that's the story I was told by the client, who was excited to get it out of her garage and turned into something useful. So: a desk! This was an unexpectedly challenging project. The hardest part by far was trying to cook up a stand with a friendly, open feeling, and then balance it with what felt like an extra-awkwardly-shaped chunk of burl. My friend Roger once told me that he builds furniture to see what it will look like, and that was definitely the case here- there just wasn’t any practical way to mock it up without *actually* making the thing. I think sometimes you have to just cross your fingers and hope for the best.
