Rocking Chairs I Love: 14 Makers

Over the past few weeks, I've written a series of posts on contemporary rocking chairs. While not comprehensive by any means, it does show the range and quality of the rockers being made today. Here is my introductory post. And here, in alphabetical order, are the makers I featured, a photo, their websites and a link to the post in which they were featured (photo credits, if not the maker, are included in the original post):

Jennifer Anderson www.jenniferandersonstudio.com Furnitude post


Timothy Clark www.timothyclark.com Furnitude post


Parker Converse www.parkerconverse.com Furnitude post


Robert Erickson www.ericksonwoodworking.com Furnitude post


Harold Greene www.antiquesofthefuture.net Furnitude post


Bill Lindau www.lindauwoodworks.com Furnitude post


Dean Ludwig www.deanludwig.com Furnitude post


John Moldovan www.jmoldovan.com Furnitude post


Scott Morrison www.finewoodworker.com Furnitude post


Hal Taylor www.haltaylor.com Furnitude post


Robert Van Norman www.insidepassage.ca/rvn_000.htm Furnitude post


Leslie Webb www.lewebb.com Furnitude post


Gary Weeks www.garyweeks.com Furnitude post


Jolyon Yates www.jolyonyates.com Furnitude post


I offer my thanks to these incredibly talented chairmakers and am honored to feature them.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Hal Taylor Edition

This is the last entry in my series about rocking chairs, and I couldn't think of a better chairmaker than Hal Taylor to close it out. Hal Taylor has been making extraordinary rocking chairs for over 15 years, and he also teaches the art of rocking chair making. I love the way Hal carefully documents the particulars of each chair that leaves his shop, noting the date, the chair name and the chair number. He signs his name and will even inscribe a poem or quote. The reason he does that is because he is looking to the future when the chair will be an heirloom and when small signs of wear will show that the chair has been used and loved for decades and passed through generations.


Some woodworkers have a talent for teaching, but that's not always the case. I've heard and read that Hal is a fine teacher and that his classes are as inspirational as they are instructional. Check out his Rocking Chair University. I hope to take a class someday.

Beyond that, please enjoy these incredible chairs. Hal makes each one to fit the customer for maximum comfort (see the range of sizes, above). And the quality, needless to say, is exquisite.
The following chair was made for his mother.


An incredible headrest.


Look at the bird's eye maple! This arm is a piece of art in and of itself.


You can find more chairs, Hal's musical instruments, plus links to other rocking chair makers and lumber sources at Hal's website: www.haltaylor.com. The next post will be a digest of all the makers I've featured. Of course, I've just scratched the surface of all the amazing rocking chair makers working today. I hope you've enjoyed what you've seen.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Parker Converse Edition

Parker Converse makes gorgeous chairs from the best lumber available. He was an apprentice to Hal Taylor (the next and final entry in my rocking chair series) in 2001. The first photo I want to show is from Parker's section on how he makes his rocking chairs.


What Parker is doing in the photo, in my opinion, shows the difference between handmade furniture and furniture made in factories. Sitting on the floor of his shop, he isn't conducting a religious ceremony -- though what he is doing is certainly spiritual in many ways. Rather, he is reading the wood. He is studying the grain to find pieces that lend themselves to certain parts of the particular chair he is making. He's also looking for structural defects to avoid and particularly beautiful parts that he would want to make prominent. This is what furniture makers do. From here, he will make marks to show where to make rough cuts to begin the incremental process of getting the wood closer and closer to the final shape it will take on in the chair. Have a look at the other photos in this section to see the rest of the process (though keep in mind that it doesn't show the multiple, arduous steps it takes to get the wood even this far). It illustrates how decision making is perhaps the most important skill in making furniture. His decisions are informed by experience with wood's inherent strengths and weaknesses, his own vision of how a rocking chair should be, the needs and expectations of his client and the constant play between engineering and artistry that make his chairs some of the best being made today.

That's enough babbling from me. Have a look at some Converse rocking chairs and some detail shots showing the level of Parker's skill. First, his Amboyna Rocker.



Curly Maple Rocker


Detail of lumbar support


Detail of Fiddleback English Walnut Rocker


I hope you enjoy Parker's work. His website is http://www.parkerconverse.com/.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Scott Morrison Edition

Scott Morrison is an incredibly talented chairmaker. His rocking chairs are beautifully made and ingeniously designed. Scott's Rocker Cradle (below) won the People's Choice Award in the 2006 Western Design Conference. It stands as a testement to his abilities as an engineer and an artist.



His Double Rocking Chair, called "Make Mine a Double," won First Place in the 22nd Annual International Design in Wood Exhibition.

As if these two weren't enough, I also love his Classic rocking chair out of claro walnut and his Butterfly Chair, which incorporates his trademarked Butterfly Joint.



The photographs are by Valerie Morrison, Scott's wife. As a side note, Scott's website (designed and built by Valerie) is one of the best I've seen in terms of its content and its design. Be sure to check out his section on the benefits of rocking and his description of the construction process. His website is www.finewoodworker.com.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Dean Ludwig Edition

I like Dean Ludwig's sentiment that rocking chairs "symbolize quiet and pause and reflection in a world that is too hurried."


One thing I have not emphasized in these posts is the importance of finish on rocking chairs. Ludwig hand rubs eight coats of oil and beeswax on every one of his. That is an extraordinary amount of work but it is worth every minute when you see the luster it creates.


Ludwig learned about making rocking chairs from Maloof himself. You can certainly see Maloof's influence, but, as Ludwig says, the design of his chairs "will probably continue to evolve the rest of [his] life."


Check out more of Dean Ludwig's chairs and his gallery of other furniture at www.deanludwig.com.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Bill Lindau Edition

In the section on his website about his rocking chairs, Bill Lindau says, "I design and build handmade rocking chairs that are unlike any other chairs on the market." I agree. He also makes the very interesting point that while his chairs are influenced by the work of Sam Maloof, Maloof himself was influenced by the work of Finn Juhl and Hans Wegner. I'm familiar with Hans Wegner, but I'm psyched to look into the work of Finn Juhl.


Lindau's chairs are amazing, but one in particular (above and immediately below) blows me away. It is a walnut rocker with quilted maple backrests and bubinga accents. I LOVE the asymmetric back. The quilted maple backslats are positively iridescent. The seat is made with some of the most beautifully figured walnut I have ever seen. The curves on the arms rests are incredibly clean and crisp. If you have a pulse, you can't look at this chair and not be thrilled at the state of craft in America. Believe me, if I had $4,000 bucks, I'd be sitting in this chair right now.



Here's another walnut rocker with plain maple backrests.


Look at the camphor burl backrests on this Appalachian black cherry rocking chair.


Check out more rocking chairs and other furniture from Lindau Woodworks at www.lindauwoodworks.com. Bill has a companion website at www.customrockingchairs.net.

Rocking Chairs I Love: John Moldovan Edition

John Moldovan makes a full range of furniture in Sonoma, California. His rocking chairs, like his tables seating, are exquisitely crafted out of woods you don't see too often these days -- elm, sweet gum and eucalyptus. And I envy West Coast woodworkers for having Claro walnut close by. Moldovan's designs are always changing and evolving. There is a great sense of play in the different styles he makes. Have a look at his whole collection, but especially these great examples of his work. The first is his Donau Rocker No. 2, out of cherry and California black walnut.

Sweet Gum Rocker, out of American sweet gum and wenge.


Quincy's Rocker, out of California black walnut and wenge.


Check out John Molodvan's website at www.jmoldovan.com.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Individual Makers

Here are a few rocking chairs from folks who mostly make furniture other than rocking chairs, so definitely peruse their websites to see what else they make.

Jennifer Anderson's rocking chair was inspired by Robert Van Norman's double rocker. Photo by David Welter. Here is my post on Anderson's work.


Robert Van Norman's original. Photo by David Welter.


This rocker was made by Leslie Webb. My post on her work is here.


Here's a rocker by Harold Greene. Photo by Bruce Ecker. My post on his other work is here.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Robert Erickson Edition

I learned about Robert Erickson from a 1991 article on rocking chairs in the Atlantic Monthly which declared, "[p]erhaps the highest nexus of art and ergonomics is the Erickson chair." Robert Erickson's rocking chairs, like his other chairs and furniture, are well considered in every detail. For anyone interested in making chairs or, more broadly, interested in what should go into a chair, his essay on the handmade ergonomic chair is a must-read. Erickson is admittedly not a back expert, but he is a good listener. That ability -- or willingness, since everyone has the ability to be a good listener whether you practice it or not -- informs his always-evolving approach to making chairs and furniture. If you are a good listener, you are a good learner and that's what it takes to be innovative and always passionate about your work -- whatever it is.


One of Erickson's great innovations is his "floating back" lumbar support. Something he's been refining in hundreds of chairs since 1974, his floating back design incorporates "taut yet contoured and bendable slats" that give your back support right where it needs it. Regarding the sculpted seats of his chairs, Erickson models them off the seats of old John Deere tractors. It's all about the ischial tuberosities -- what we know as our "sit bones."


His Cloudlift Rocker, below, features the motif made famous by Greene and Greene and also shows the floating back in contrasting wood.


Check out his rocking chairs and the rest of his line of beautiful furniture at www.ericksonwoodworking.com.

Rocking Chairs I Love: Timothy Clark Edition

You can call Timothy Clark's rocking chairs traditional if you want to. They're certainly based in the Windsor tradition. To me they look more like a Windsor/Shaker hybrid with a modern sensibility. Those styles are related anyway, but he pulls the best features from each to make his version. Because of that and Clark's line of chairs in different colors, I could see these chairs being right at home with Arts & Crafts or even minimalist furniture.


His Cod Rib Rocker (above and below) won first place in the Custom or Studio Furniture category at the 2008 Vermont Fine Furniture and Woodworking Show. That's no small feat -- let's just say they've got a few good woodworkers in Vermont. :)


I also love his Side Chair Rocker.


His Waltham rocker was featured in Elle Decor Magazine and in the 2008 edition of the book 500 Chairs by Lark Books. Note the beautiful sculpting on the rockers themselves.


Clark is one of the woodworkers I was talking about in my introduction who make things other than rocking chairs. Be sure to peruse his entire line. Check out his "What's New" link to see photos of some of his work in progress. His website is www.timothyclark.com.