Lotus Vase - just arrived and now gracing our shelvesSeth Rolland works from his studio in Port Townsend near Washington.

He has been making furniture for 17 years, first in Taos, New Mexico and now in Port Townsend. In that time he has made almost every kind of furniture from tables to beds to coat racks to mirrors. His work has been featured in magazines, books, and is in numerous galleries throughout the US.
His work has evolved to be more organic both in design and technique. Forms in nature have always been his primary inspiration. He admires the simplicity and economy of the natural world where each material shows its full range of possibilities.
He is drawn to natural forms because they are not static: they grow, spring, flow, balance, fracture and erode. Each of his designs starts with the idea of such a motion, in addition to the function of the piece of furniture. In his furniture structure over ornamentation is emphasised, and dramatic transitions instead of exposed joinery.
To refine his designs, he first sketches, then makes scale models and full size patterns of important parts. He chooses woods that complement the design of the piece. Since nature is his inspiration, he tries his best to care for it by using sustainably harvested woods. Many of the details of his furniture do not show up in photos: textures, edges and curves that are meant to be touched more than seen. He wants my furniture to be fun to touch, sit in, eat off and live with for many generations.

Seth says "Functional furniture is everywhere. What I strive for in my furniture and what I admire in that of others are pieces which can be sculptures. Animated, balanced, interesting forms enhanced by colour and grain. Beautiful, natural materials used in innovative or unexpected ways. Forms which are most of all beautiful, but also very functional.”