I was commissioned to build a queen-size, curly maple bed as part of a suite of furniture for a client who is a practicing Buddhist. She expressed her appreciation of my Art Nouveau style and her interest in using that as foundation for a new direction in furniture design.
After visiting her retreat and studying Buddhist texts and imagery, we agreed upon the iconography that would be the basis of the design.
In this bed, I used a historic Buddhist image of a landscape with waterfalls, and engraved it in the center section of the headboard. This landscape was bracketed by panels with deeply carved lotus blossoms, which would reappear in various forms on other pieces of furniture in this suite. The entire form of the bed drew upon the curved lines of the Art Nouveau period, but merged serenely with the naturalism of the Buddhist elements.
