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This weekend we went to a little street fair in downtown Cincinnati to see some art, eat some Belgian waffles and , unbeknownst to us , consider the question of raw material selection in building furniture.
As we made our way through the vendors on Main Street, we heard that the Contemporary Art Center had a booth where kids could build “little furniture.” Katy, my 7-year-old shop helper, tugged at my arm and said she wanted to check it out.
So we strolled to the other end of the fair and found the tent in question. And indeed, there were about 10 kids there making miniature chairs, beds and shelving units using 2″ x 2-3/4″ Formica samples and masking tape.
There were a lot of boxy Bauhaus chairs made from “Porcelain Grafix” samples and a dollhouse-sized rug made up of Formica samples of “Natural Figured Maple.”
As soon as Katy saw the Formica samples she stopped dead in her tracks. I put my hand on her shoulder and asked if she wanted to give it a try.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” she said, turning back toward the bandstand.
“Why not, honey?” I asked.
“I thought they would be using real wood,” Katy said.
So we skipped the Formica and fabricated some people and dogs from pipe cleaners instead. Looks like I’ve been raising a wood snob without knowing it.
