Tables by Michael Childs

"Running Table" 2017 30"H x43"W x 11"D, lightly figured spalted maple live edge top with Sapele legs. Hand rubbed oil finish. 3rd prize winner in Studio (art) furniture at the 2019 Orange County Fair. $2200 plus $250 for crating and shipping in the 48 contiguous states, plus sales tax for California residents.

Running Table Detail - 2017 Spalted Maple live edge top, Sapele legs, fastened with epoxy and hidden dowels, 30"H x 11"D x 46"W, oil finish. $2200

I fell in love with the piece of wood that was only fit for garbage: it had worm holes, cracks, dry rot. It was too narrow to place the legs in the corners as I usually do, too narrow for any real functionality except to accent an entryway or fit against a wall and hold a photo or sculpture. What to do? My wife and I reconditioned the top, she cleaning up the live edge and I pouring epoxy into holes and cracks. We turned it over and soaked the wood with penetrating epoxy stabilize the dry rot. Then I installed the legs with invisible dowels, placing them to look like running legs in both directions for the fun of it. Then she got to work sanding and sanding and both of us sanding until the whole table was glass smooth. Then we add coat after coat of teak oil until the wood was fully saturated, at least 20. Thus was born Running Table.

When the art market collapsed in 2004, I turned from visual art to being a woodworker and carpenter. When customers found out I could build anything they wanted, my woodworking skills, a trade I had entered into in 1971, came to the fore. I have been creating small and large pieces of furniture for over 70 years. I found a beautiful piece of quilted maple that I turned into a small table. It won 2nd prize at the Marin County Fair in 2005. I was encouraged to pursue my innovative designs even further when I sold my furniture pieces. My ambition was to design pieces that had never been seen before: tables with minimal structure, not the usual perpendicular support system, either legs or a pedestal. Why not extend the legs from one corner to another, cantile-vered, as long as 4 feet remained on the ground? What would happen? The result was a table that appeared to be walking. It offered a different geometry from different points of view.

Then I experimented with six legs walking around the perimeter of the table top. An-other configuration made the table “walk” sideways. When I saw a flat piece of highly figured purpleheart, I decided to do just that: make a serene flat surface that accentu-ated the wood while placing the legs in wild dance, thus: Crossing Together. Using different live edge wood for the tops, I made tables that appeared to walk back-wards and forwards.

I have been building one thing or another since I was five, over 70 years or so. In 2005, I decided to build furniture of my own design that could fit in my truck, making them easier to transport and show. My ambition was to design pieces that had never been seen before. I decided to design a table with a minimum of structure. Every table I had ever seen had a perpendicular support system, either legs or a pedestal. Why not extend the legs from one corner to another, cantilevered, as long as 4 feet remained on the ground? What would happen? The result was a table that appeared to be walking. Then I experimented with six legs walking around the perimeter of the table top. Or make the table “walk” sideways. When I saw a flat piece of highly figured purpleheart, I decided to do just that: make a serene flat surface that accentuated the wood while placing the legs in wild dance, thus: Crossing Together.