Santa Fe Rockers
wood
Santa Fe Rockers
Before I started making the rockers, I bought chair patterns from three different makers. I had never attempted anything this complicated before and while they had many elements in common, they were all, in some way, modifications of Sam Maloof’s original design. I took the best elements that appealed to me and built four chairs. Then three years ago, my first potential client, an 87-year-old woman, sat in one of these chairs. She loved but said it was too hard to get out of. Believing this to be a touchstone design issue that would enhance the comfort for any age, I changed almost everything about the chair except the curvature of the back slats. I created new patterns that tightened the radius of the rockers and the curvature of the back legs; I sloped the arms downward and I raised the back of the seat slightly, all to make the chair easier to enter and exit, and it works. Of all the people, of all ages and body types, who have since sat in the chairs at the festivals, no one has ever had any difficulty getting in or out of the chairs.
My process is always an evolving response to the material at hand, to the grain, to the shapes that emerge. I work mostly in North American hardwoods such as Beech, Cherry, Walnut, Maple, Oak, and Hickory. Each chair combines contrasting wood types. Eyes and hands behold and respond. Choices evolve and the result is always a unique creation.
There are no straight lines in the human body. There are few straight lines in my chairs. Sitting in a chair, but especially a rocking chair, is probably the most tactile experience one can have with any type of furniture. It is a full-body experience requiring ergonomic comfort and a pleasant sensation as the whole body is captured.
Each adult rocker takes 100-120 hours to build and sculpt for unmatched comfort. In additional to Sam Maloof, I have also been influenced by William Kappel, Hal Taylor, Paul Limisky, and Charles Brock.
Robert Wing
I learned about the good work and good people of Many Mothers a year ago. I donated a an adult rocker for the last auction and have pledged another adult rocker and a child’s rocker for the new Discovery Center. I live in Santa Fe and have been making these rocking chairs since 2019.
In the shop, I'm absorbed for hours in the flow of design and execution challenges, pushing the limits of my skill and imagination. I make mistakes every day, sometimes, fortunate mistakes which influence design. I learn from these mistakes and learn even more, about how wood works, from their correction.
I love making these chairs! I love the Art Festivals and the positive feedback. I love the challenge of combining contrasting hardwoods, and I love making changes (I think improvements) that enhance comfort yet still maintain the unmistakable Maloof style.
Sam Maloof was a California woodworker recognized as a master designer and craftsman. His work is in the permanent collection of the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian Museum. He passed in 2009. What I make will always build upon Sam Maloof’s inspiration.
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Northern New Mexico Fine Arts and Crafts Guild
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