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Buenaventura Art Association artist Eric Gillett created a labor of love for the association – a custom desk for the Harbor Village Gallery. A special “desk reception” will be held for Gillett on August 10 from 5 – 7 pm at the Harbor Village Gallery.
Every member artist is required to donate a total of 30 hours a year to the association. Gillett went up and beyond the “call of duty” when he created and donated this one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
Eric J Gillett is a groundbreaking furniture artist who uses hardwood as his medium and fused glass as his muse. Originally from Northern California, Gillett comes from a family of artists, his father an artist in clay and bronze sculpture, and his mother an artist of the spiritual realm.
Gillett has been using wood to create his visions for over a decade. His experience ranging from teaching boatbuilding in West Africa to hand building 5000 square foot log cabins; he has done it all. Originally attending college studying Industrial Design, Gillett later changed his focus to business management. After finding the business world a less satisfying outlet for his skills, he returned to his roots in the artistic fields finding success in the forming of creative yet functional furniture. Though his approach is brash and innovative, the Gillett heritage is full of craftsman dating back to early America. The original 1820 journeyman toolbox of his great-great-great grandfather Edgar Gillett is proudly held at the Indiana Museum.
“Our goal is to create furniture that is specifically tailored to the clients needs, but that takes it an additional level by adding a touch of creativity and artistic flair that makes each piece unique”. Typically using domestic black walnut, most pieces combine a variety of elegant hardwoods. “Much of life is about contrasts,” says Gillett “and the qualities of one element sometimes only reveal themselves when shown next to something radically different. It is with the fusion of exotically colored glass and figured hardwood, that we build these contrasts into each piece."
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