Student class projects impress furniture entrepreneur

The program ARTS 390 Distinctive Topics: Woodworking certainly lived up to its identify, Pay Per Touch.

George Theofilactidis, who founded specialty furnishings maker El Greco Woodworking, Inc., extra than 45 years ago, visited the class just lately to see prototypes made by college students employing generally blocks of wood that his company donates to SUNY Fredonia’s sculpture method.

“I was incredibly, incredibly astonished with all the pics that I obtained from the assignments that you created,” Mr. Theofilactidis shared through an informal “show and tell” pupils gave.

For their last class task, students created and designed bandsaw packing containers, or prototypes, working with factory cast-offs and rejected products. “These fellas are so meticulous about their materials preference that if there is a knot in it, if there is just an close-grain crack,” defined Affiliate Professor Peter Tucker, these pieces are not used in children’s bed room home furnishings made by El Greco.

Lots of of the prototypes – designed of challenging maple, black walnut, cherry and some ash – ended up attractive pieces, this sort of as a candleholder, though practical items included a chess/checkerboard and chopping boards. Learners outlined how the pieces were crafted and defined their ways to deciding upon stains or finishes.

“The learners have designed awesome assignments with donated wood from El Greco,” said Mr. Tucker, who has visited El Greco’s output facility in Jamestown several moments. “I was thrilled not only with these initiatives, but with all projects in this course. These youngsters genuinely impressed me with their sophistication and innovative works by using of materials.”

Tucker discovered a bandsaw box by Mikayla Canham that’s in the shape of a decreased torso – with two legs, hips and very small drawers that pull out, so that it appears to be like a piece of home furniture – to be particularly awesome.

Madeline Keenan’s bandsaw box, produced of dim black walnut, resembles a reverse “S” figure, with two drawers that open. “Working on this project was time consuming and it taught me a whole lot about attaching wood again alongside one another,” discussed Ms. Keenan, a senior majoring in Visual Arts and New Media: Drawing and Portray, and Visible Arts and New Media: Ceramics, from Batavia. She created it for her mother, who “loves all factors handmade,” and can use it to hold jewelry.

Angeline Ginsberg’s picket box undertaking.For her project, Angeline Ginsberg, a senior majoring in Visual Arts and New Media: Ceramics, from Lindenhurst, applied tricky maple and black walnut to make a box that is an abstraction of waves, with a tiny wave-shaped manage utilised to open the box.

“A challenge that I faced all over this assignment was slicing the curves out in the commencing to shape the box and then it was a ton of sanding to get the surface that I needed, but all in all it was a really entertaining assignment,” Ms. Ginsberg described. The piece will be a birthday reward for her father, who’s a fisherman and seriously enjoys getting out on the ocean.

Mr. Theofilactidis emigrated to Canada from Greece at the age of 18 and attended the College of Toronto prior to relocating to the United States, where by he labored in a metallic factory for two several years right before setting up his corporation. Having his youngsters join the business soon after earning higher education levels has been a blessing, he stated. In actuality, Theofilactidis so passionate about his furnishings firm that jokes that El Greco is his and his spouse Kathy’s fourth youngster.

“We do the engineering, building of all the products that we make,” Theofilactidis stated. El Greco will make little one and children’s bedroom home furnishings and has a person major customer, Area & Board Household Furnishings which Theofilactidis said purchases every thing that his firm will make.

“Business is great we under no circumstances slowed down, even all through the pandemic, or in 2008, when there was a slowdown (in the financial system). We observed a market,” Theofilactidis mentioned.

Wooden items built by four college students – Mikayla Canham, a senior Theatre Manufacturing and Structure important from Brockport Veronica Gray, senior, Visual Arts and New Media: Drawing and Painting, Eden Ginsberg and Keenan – will be exhibited in the Fredonia Showcase at the Marion Artwork Gallery, Jan 18 by way of Feb. 13, 2022.