Burns Jennings, founder of Burns Jennings Custom Art Furniture, has been refining his skills as a established furniture maker for over 12 years, "My efforts have centred on designing and building fine art quality furniture for home or office, using environmentally responsible materials and practices," says Jennings. In his studio, located on Bowen Island, Jennings hand-crafts custom fine art pieces of furniture, home accessories and sculptures of all sizes.
Jennings grew up surrounded by Canadian and American antique furniture. His late father David was an avid collector of antiques and often asked his son to help him repair and re-finish pieces that were over 200 years old. Jennings' appreciation to detail and craftsmanship that went into building these antiques inspired him to create his own unique pieces of art. Artists such as George Nakashima, James Krenov and Tage Frid have also been a huge influence on his work.
A core component behind Jennings' designs is a sense of environmental awareness and he often incorporates found driftwood, recycled oak, birch, fir, and mahogany. "Waste furniture accounts for about five per cent of our trash stream, which has quadrupled since 1960, and trends continue to rise. Today, many furniture manufacturers are producing furniture with short life spans and are using timber products sourced from regions contributing to global deforestation. Some are using exotic woods that are extracted directly from tropical rainforests," says Jennings. Conscious of such practices, he uses locally milled maple, alder, walnut, chestnut and cherry woods.
The architectural nature of Jennings' work lends itself to precise lines, textural accents and defined forms. A contemporary aesthetic, combined with quality craftsmanship provides an authentic, one of a kind studio-made, west coast piece of art. This is what Jennings has to offer.
On November 17 to 23, Jennings' work will be on display in the lobby at the Four Seasons Vancouver at 791 West Georgia Street. Jennings will be an artist in residence on November 17 and 18 - he will work on small projects to demonstrate the process behind building quality furniture and answer questions.
"In our busy, buy-off-the-shelf, throwaway society, many have lost a connection to artisans and personalized home furniture design. My goal is to resurrect, rekindle and fuel the passion for home furniture that was once common," says Jennings.
To see more of Jennings' work, check out his website at www.jenningscustomfurniture.com.
