photos: Todd Glaser and Chris Orwig

Live edge dining table with stainless steel legs, satin varnish finish

this is a dining table i made for a client in southern california out of salvaged port orford cedar. i’m also making coffee tables with p.o.c. and claro walnut (juglans hindsii). inquiries welcome. west coast deliveries available.

Port Orford cedar (chamaecyparis lawsoniana), also called Lawson’s cypress and “hinoki” in Japan
is actually a cypress, rather than a true cedar. P.O.C. only grows in coastal southern Oregon and far northern California. It’s rare to have a slab of old growth P.O.C. this big. Years ago, the Japanese fell in love with it because its light color and straight grain reminded them of their sacred hinoki (chamaecyparis obtusa), which they used for their temples and traditional baths. A close relative to hinoki, P.O.C. has become valuable due to heavy buying, along with the small supply of quality logs.

Now you can only really get the old growth from salvaged dead logs. P.O.C. has high oil content, so the dead logs are preserved and the wood is usually in perfect condition. The wood is also highly regarded by boat builders because it’s so stable and highly resistant to rot*.

Cleaning up the live edge outside Les’s shop

This particular slab was salvaged from a log that came off the beach in Gold Beach, Oregon, that had floated down the Rogue River after a big storm. It was milled by guitarmaker Les Stansell of Pistol River, Oregon who uses P.O.C. to make incredibly beautiful flamenco guitars.

I used myrtlewood (umbellularia californica) for the brace. It has tiger-striping in it. That gives it the figure. Tiger-striping happens when water gets into the wood, maybe from a broken branch, and then stains it. You have to mill the wood and dry it before it rots. Myrtlewood isn’t rare, but tiger-striping is.

Bookmatch top with satin varnish finish

*I have a bit of personal history with P.O.C.. When I was about 3 years old, my parents, brother, sister and I lived in a Mercedes cargo van for a year. We moved out of a home my parents owned in Santa Barbara and into the van because my dad wanted to build a sailboat and live in it. We made road trips down to northern Baja, and up to British Colombia. On our way to Vancouver we stopped in the small town of Port Orford, Oregon—near to where I live now—and my dad had some P.O.C. milled for his sailboat. The boat was never made, but that’s another story.

photo: Trefz

Banyan Tree, Sri Lanka 30×40″ silver gelatin print, claro walnut frame.

Live edge Port Orford cedar table.

Interview and photo shoot I did this summer with Gerry Lopez in Bend, Oregon. Published in Glide Magazine, Japan.

Looking for gift ideas?

I have note cards, t-shirts, limited edition posters and books, etc. available in my store.

And for a limited time, I’m offering free shipping for US customers on all orders of $50 or more. And … a free tree market tote is included on all orders of $50 or more.

Thanks for the support!

*Free shipping offer is for continental US customers only. Offer valid November 20th to December 20th only. Delivery is 1 – 2 days processing + 2 – 3 days USPS priority mail.

Send me your art, I’ll send it back to you framed …

Art framing combines two of my passions, art and woodworking. My interest in woodworking goes back to an an early age. My dad is a finish carpenter specializing in custom doors and cabinets. He also makes beautiful wood surfboards, boats and furniture. Inspired by my dad, for years I thought about trying my hand at woodworking but I always found an excuse — not enough time, space, tools, etc.

Things changed in 2003 when I was getting ready for my first photo exhibit. I found it very difficult to find the custom frames I wanted, which was something simple and clean with a handcrafted feel, and made from real wood. This made me think about making my own frames — I thought it would be a good way to display a complete package of my work and also an opportunity to finally start woodworking. So I bought a miter saw and a vise and made some frames in my garage. I enjoyed making those first frames, but, needless to say, woodworking and framing art was a lot more challenging than I thought. But, I kept at it, framing for further photo exhibits, improving with each show.

(l) salvaged old growth redwood, Port orford cedar — clear finish (r) poplar — white enamel finish

Then in 2009 my wife and I decided to move our home base from Santa Barbara to the redwood coast in Northern California. This move allowed me to have more space to work and put me near the source of the highest quality American hardwoods and the forests of the Pacific Northwest. In early 2011 I started working part time for Peter Kirkeby, a contemporary art framer in San Francisco. There I fine-tuned my skills and learned how to care for and frame a variety of mediums. Working for Kirkeby inspired me to start my own art framing business, and I now have a fully equipped, climate-controlled frame and wood shop and offer frames to the public.

I offer both “contemporary” and “craftsman” style frames in a variety of profiles and finishes. Contemporary frame profiles tend to favor contemporary and modern art, graphics and photography. Craftsman style profiles are made in the Arts and Crafts tradition especially suited for, but not limited to, craftsman bungalows and turn-of-the-century pictures and interiors.

My frames are “closed corner” frames. Closed corner, also known as finished corner frames, are joined then finished as a piece of furniture would be, rather than most frames today which are mass-produced, pre-finished moldings manufactured overseas.

For more details about my frames please click here. If you’re interested in getting your art or photographs framed, or if you have any questions feel free to email me at contact@joecurren.com.

… that time of year again.

Alcatraz, Bay Bridge and Downtown skyline

Landscape artist Jeremy Harper and I have a space at this weekend’s art walk at the Santa Barbara Natural History Museum. I will have a few of my framed prints for sale as well as posters, a couple limited edition books, cards, t-shirts, etcetera. Hope to see you there.

Container Ship, Golden Gate, SF

Manhattan

Rainy Day

Osprey, Montauk

Patrick Trefz photo from a couple years ago. Wish I was there now…

Highway 1, northern Santa Barbara County

Old Miramar Hotel, Montecito

With Pat Curren board model

Outer Hebrides, Scotland

With Skip Frye fish, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

With old Scotsman, Stones of Callinish, 9/11/01

Lofoten Islands, 2002

Surfer Gerry Lopez, Mt. Bachelor and Lava Lands National Monument – Bend

Guitarmaker Les Stansell and fox gloves – Pistol River hinterland

Artist Spencer Reynolds – Harris Beach, Brookings

Published in 1959, Robert Frank’s The Americans is still one of the most influential photography books of all time. To make the book, Frank took a series of cross country road trips over a two year period in which he shot 767 rolls of film, yielding about 27,000 photographs. That’s a lot of photos, even by today’s standards. What’s interesting is that he didn’t see any of his work until he was completely finished with his travels, when he processed the film and made 1,000 prints of his best shots in his apartment in New York City. Yes, of course, this now anachronistic approach was the only way for a photographer at the time. But for those like me with a decidedly slow, non-digital approach, living in a more-is-better, instant gratification age, the influence of Frank’s book—and it’s shelf life—offers a glimmer of hope.

Hokkaido, Japan with Joe Curren from joecurrenphoto on Vimeo.

Mini documentary of me taking photos in Hokkaido, Japan. A mix of video from Dan Malloy and my black and white photographs, taken on our surf trip in 2010.

I’m now offering live edge match-book and solid slab tables.

The bookmatch top and legs on the coffee table pictured are Port Orford cedar (chamaecyparis lawsoniana, also known as Lawson’s cypress and Oregon cypress, or hinoki in Japan). The accents are claro walnut, (juglans nigra and juglans hindsii hybrid, also known as black, Oregon and western walnut). The wood is milled from salvaged logs by my friend Les Stansell, a guitar maker from Pistol River, Oregon.

Custom sizing available. Inquiries welcome: contact@joecurren.com