Walnut Altar

Sometimes the right use for a particular piece of wood can take years to discover. This live edge altar is in the zendo of the Red Rocks Zen Circle in Sedona. A small but lovely Zen meditation center, it needed an altar to replace the cinder blocks and board altar they were using.

For more than 20 years, I held on to the piece that comprises the top, searching for its correct and worthy use. The legs also have a history. I created them as a practice piece using a compass plane I own, the sole of which adjusts to afford a concave or convex form as needed. It shaped the curved legs, but these too remained in my shop for 10 years, awaiting their perfect use. Lastly, the lovely natural piece of walnut that makes up the skirting also lingered among the many pieces I hold, each waiting for the moment when things come together in my mind and in my hands.

Compass plane

When I decided to make this piece, all the separate parts came together very organically. Using a design process called “composing” (explained in James Krenov’s book A Cabinetmaker’s Notebook), all the parts flowed together without drawings. Instead, I worked by putting them together in varying configurations until the final shape, angles and proportions gelled. From there, the assembly came quickly and the results are clear. A very organic pairing of parts that awaited their perfect moment and now serve as the centerpiece in a lovely space dedicated to Zen meditation. It suits the philosophy of “wabi sabi,” the Japanese art of finding beauty in imperfection and profundity in nature, of accepting the natural cycle of growth, decay and death.

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