From the Bench: A long loose end
A nine-drawer dresser sat in mid-build for nearly 30 years, its drawers half-built, its pockets stuffed with student supplies, clippings, letters, and other stuff. Then David Welter retired, and the dresser came home, rose to the top of the to-do list, and found a new life.
Synopsis: Born in the early days of David Welter’s career at The Krenov School, a nine-drawer dresser sat in mid-build for nearly 30 years, its drawers half-built, its pockets stuffed with student supplies, clippings, letters, and other stuff. Then David retired, and the dresser came home, rose to the top of the “to-do” list, and found a new life.
Philip Morley’s Work Truly Rocks
The Wimberley-based furniture maker has built an audience for his record consoles, rocking chairs, and other one-of-a-kind pieces.
The Morley Rocker.
Photograph by Jeff Wilson
The Morley Rocker.
Photograph by Jeff Wilson
In a workshop next to his Wimberley home, Philip Morley creates custom wood pieces such as record-player consoles and the Morley Rocker, a sculptural chair he originally designed for his wife when she was pregnant with the first of their four children. The 38-year-old craftsman, who grew up in London, embraced woodworking during his troubled teen years after a judge sent him to trade school full-time. He moved to the U.S. in 2003, eventually becoming an apprentice to Austin furniture maker Michael Colca. Morley, who branched out on his own in 2014, now has more than 148,000 followers on Instagram. “I am not a tech person,” he says, “but it brought me great exposure.”