Search Results for: chester cornett

Madeline reports she is almost out of the latest batch of stickers. They’re $7 for a set of three and are available from her etsy store (she ships worldwide).

Your sticker dollars go to supporting Madeline’s wack-doodle cat, named Chickpea, who insists on unraveling and eating articles of clothing (among other things). I think Madeline is purchasing a variety of calming fluids and cat treats to soothe the savage Pea….

This grouping of stickers is a fun batch. We have the “Rest for the Weary” sticker that features a silhouette of one of the chairs I copied from St Fagans National Museum of Wales. There’s a “#NeverSponsored” sticker that proclaims your independence from sponsorship – it felt great to paste that one over the brand names on my machines. And there’s our Chester Cornett sticker that features the sales slogan from his workshop’s sign. Translation: “We Make Anything or it Can’t Be Made.”

Check them out before they’re gone.

— Christopher Schwarz

“I’ve heard that all my life, a chairmaker never has a thing to set on.”

— Chester Cornett, as quoted in “Craftsman of the Cumberlands” (University of Kentucky Press) by Michael Owen Jones

During my visit to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Ky., last week I got to examine a few interesting chairs (surprise!). This little black number from Franklin County (likely Frankfort), was one of my favorites.

Built about 1815 from poplar and other woods, the chair features simple bamboo turnings and an almost-circular seat. Some of the details I particularly like:

1. The feet taper like the neck of an upside-down Coke bottle. This leg shape is something I see on a lot of Kentucky post-and-rung chairs from the mountains. (Note: I’m sure this shape is also found elsewhere – I just come across it a bunch here.) Chester Cornett’s simpler chairs have a similar, but much more dramatic, curved taper.
2. I like the tilted armrests. So often the armrests are horizontal to the seat, which can be a bit dull. I have no idea how these feel to the body in service (too many watchful guards…).
3. And I adore the little black patch on the end of the worn armrests. Why is this paint not worn away? I wondered if there was some sort of dark wood plug inset into the end of the armrest. All I saw was paint. The wear pattern is unexpected – I’d expect the front to be quite worn.

Anyway, this wasn’t my favorite chair at the Speed. Perhaps another time.

— Christopher Schwarz

The winner of a Lost Art Press bandana (man scarf) and Chester Cornett button is ‘speed poet’ Bill Rainford. Within 46 minutes of the posting of the Caption Challenge Bill submitted a four-line poem capturing the pleasures and perils of living in a tree stump:

”There was a young couple who lived in a stump/They had so many children they clearly like to hump/With only one room and only one bed/They should grow an addition as that tree isn’t dead.”

There were 233 entries that arrived before the cut off and there are five that I have selected as Honor Mentions:

Bob Brown submitted, “Man leaves woman in trunk.” A nice murder-mystery vibe and another reminder to me to never buy a very large suitcase.

Samuel Holland submitted, “Why would I ask for a tree bedroom house? It makes no sense.” I like puns and this also reminds me of a guy I ran into once. He kept saying “tree” on the very tree-less waterfront in Jersey.

immltasbi submitted a very short short story that reminded me of Tom Bombadil from ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’: “Let’s cut a tree, to make a home. A branch for spoons and other for the plates…”

Dave was the first to caption ala Chester Cornett: “wey make ur hows ahhom are heit cant B mad.”

Lastly, to award outstanding perseverance, an Honor Mention goes to J.C aka BLZeebub for contributing 14 entries. I want this person on my side in a fork fight.

I will contact the Honorable Mentionees and send you a small thank you for your efforts.

Thanks to all for participating and Happy New Year!

–Suzanne Ellison