Description

I was first exposed to the idea of digitally carving solid surface material (e.g. Corian) using a CNC in graduate school and was captivated at how cleanly it carved and how the thickness of the material affected its translucency. After some smaller experiments I decided that I wanted to do a large ornamental panel that could be illuminated either by daylight or integral luminaires. I found a drawing in a sketchbook that I had done on a flight during one of my annual trips back east to visit family. I often find it hard to go from a 2-D sketch to making a digital model and so next I hand-sculpted a study model in clay to better imagine the 3-D relief. The digital model, with its many hundreds of unique complex curving surfaces, took several months of working in my free time to create. Compare this with just a day to mill it! The frame is made of eastern white oak I brought with me when I moved from Pennsylvania. Integral tape LED lights and a laminated glass back complete the piece. As far as the name is concerned, the design looked somewhat like an abstraction of a winged maple seed and, for lack of a better way of describing it to others, that's what I started to call it. "Samara" is the techincal term for a winged seed. We'll see if that name sticks.