So lately I've been reclaiming wood from discarded furniture. A drawer, a headboard, I even found an oak drawing table smashed on the side of the road. It's exciting to think that discarded, broken things can be reused. When I started making boxes, I used boxes. Ones that were found in thrift stores and given to me by friends. But now I'm making my boxes to fit my paintings, and I'm using reclaimed, re-purposed wood. I thought tearing apart an abandoned piano was thrilling and edgy, but now I think I've met my match. 

I bid on this mahogany beauty at a local auction about a month ago. I don't know the age, but I do know quality. This piece was made by craftsman of another era. At first I debated whether or not to just repair it and keep it, (I know you can't see it in this picture, but the whole top was destroyed, and the drawers were splitting and broken) but I really didn't want to take on yet another household project when my kitchen cabinets were yet to be finished. (Another story) So I have started disassembling this dresser, and I find myself more and more humbled by the workmanship I keep uncovering. 

Each drawer has hand-cut dovetail joints, and the back is a frame and panel with insets of solid mahogany sliced so very thin. I pulled off the top only to discover more dovetail joints where no one would ever see them. As I gently tear it apart, I feel like I am desecrating a holy object. I am humbled by the tooling that fits so well together, and the way the locks in the drawers are set into the wood. Even the drawer pulls are carved. What am I to do? I'm almost past the part of no return. The wood that I envision for my boxes is so precious with the rough saw marks from tools we no longer use, but the craftsmanship, patience, and skill this piece represents is equally precious. So here I am. Stuck. Wondering if it's still not to late to save her, or let her go into the future as many pieces of art.