The flower-shaped tabletop with four black petals and a white center rests atop crossing gold circular arches forming a looped base, set against a plain white studio backdrop.

Tables of Content

The Artistic Furnishings of David Cumming

After earning a B.A. in Philosophy, David Cumming began his craft by restoring lesser furniture (often salvaged) and then trading “up” for better pieces, learning about the nature of furniture construction in the process.

TOP: Pouffe No. 2 (low table), 2011—Black Chlorite and Italian White Alabaster top; taper-laminated Pink Ivory and Holly & Chechen base with Holly disk and Pink Ivory plate. The woods and the soft stone of this piece were glued with WEST SYSTEM Epoxy.

For many years Cumming has specialized, when restoring and making furniture, in techniques of wood lamination, which he feels results in both greater beauty and greater strength. The bent lamination technique is particularly useful to him for making wooden forms that require a thin, graceful line and, therefore, demand a maximum of strength with a minimum of wood.

Copper-toned tripod stands on three curved legs, supporting a round, jagged-edge platform at the top, set against a plain white background.

He typically uses WEST SYSTEM®105 Epoxy Resin® and 209 Extra Slow Hardener® with 403 Microfibers as a thickener. He laminates the legs of his tables over molds he has cut to shape.

An upright wooden table with two small drawers and red knobs. It stands on tall, curved legs that bend outward, set against a plain white studio backdrop. Object: a dark green irregular seat. Action: supported by slender black rods bending outward from a column. Context: mounted on a rough white stone block in a white gallery. Object: curved wooden bending form; Action: a craftsman tightens multiple clamps along the piece to glue and shape it. Context: bench with drawers, tools, and many clamps in the background.

Cumming lives in Toronto, Ontario. Most of the woods used in these pieces came from Exotic Woods in Burlington, Ontario (also a WEST SYSTEM Dealer) and the stone was purchased at Sculpture Supply in Toronto.  See more of Cumming’s work at articsokgallery.com.

Photos: Sally Cumming