When the Waterfront Gallery installed its new elevator, 75 year-old wood that had been part of the structure of the Expo Building – the former machine shop of the Comox Logging & Railway Company – had to be removed.
It was too precious to dispose of, Gallery President Kathy Holmes thought, so she contacted Bill Thompson of Yonder Wood and asked him if he might be interested in creating something for the gallery out of it.
When he saw the large solid sections of beam and a piece of railroad track he knew what he wanted to do; he had just made a pendulum powered drawing table and felt the idea would work for the art gallery, too.
The result is functional art. “The drawing table is tough, masculine and very, very lovely,” Holmes said when she saw it. “We are so pleased with what Bill did with the rough material we gave him.”
You are welcome to come and see the result in the entrance to the Waterfront Gallery at 610 Oyster Bay Drive.
As well as unique wood products, Thompson designs and makes jewelry. He and his wife Linda are on the 2016 Cedar Yellow Point Artisan Trail Brochure and are open on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Find out more at yonderwood.com or by email to yonderwood@telus.net. More about the Waterfront Gallery at ladysmithwaterfrontgallery.com.
