If you’re in the market for a unique dress, you might want to check out area woodworker Paul Schürch, who just recently won (among many other awards) a Crafty Award for creating a remarkable dress made from figured maple veneer. That’s right: Schürch, a highly skilled artisan with a studio here in Santa Barbara, has demonstrated significant innovation in making a piece of wearable wood to add to his impressive portfolio of unique wooden furniture. With a background in building both church organs and boats, Schürch pulls from these experiences to create beautiful and matchless items, truly stretching the medium of wood to full resistance. Amid the commotion regarding his latest achievement, Schürch gave some insight into his practice and answered the question — why wood?
You have a background as a church organ builder. Can you describe that experience and how it has influenced your current practice? It gave me access to major trade groups where one would have to be proficient in a lot of different trades: woodwork, metalwork, plastic, music intonation, historical practice, carving. It gave me a foundation for working with diverse material that has been helpful to me in my entire career.
What is it about wood as a medium that speaks to you? It was something that I had always been drawn to from a very early age. The emphasis on piano and church organ building is primarily a woodshop, and I have a connection to the natural material. I understand it. Well, let’s put it this way: I’m beginning to understand it.