Above: Sunniva Swing
Brian Boggs
Story by Trevor Clark
In a workshop located in the heart of the River Arts District, Brian Boggs produces carefully crafted furniture that offers both comfort and style. For 34 years, Brian has channeled his artistic talents into crafting tables, chairs, and other items that balance form and function.
In his work, Brian continues a rich regional tradition of furniture making. Many of his early pieces, for example, display hand-joined frames and woven hickory bark seats, characteristic qualities of this traditional Appalachian craft. Brian’s chairs reflect his attention to detail, as evidenced by the delicate curves of each post and rung. The chairs are constructed using sustainably harvested woods from Appalachia to the Pacific coast of South America.
During the years from the early 1980s to mid-1990s, Brian estimates he made more than 300 chairs in this traditional, hand-worked style without the use of electrical tools. Working in this way, he says, helped him develop a sharp eye for design.
As Brian’s vision for his own style of chairs evolved, he eventually began working with power tools in order to further refine his designs. By using these tools, Brian says he gained more creative freedom—subtle curves became easier to carve, while more varieties of wood could be used. He did, however, retain some traditional methods, such as splitting logs in-house for lumber.
According to Brian, each machine in the shop was selected for a vital part of his craft. “Because of what I learned about the material, I found it necessary to make some of our own equipment here,” he says. “(The process) is based on how wood works, not how machines work.” Although using machines helps make some steps more efficient, Brian’s meticulous attention to detail still requires that he invest 20 to 30 hours in each chair.
This, of course, limits the workshop’s production. While Brian plans to continue making custom chairs in this style, he also hopes soon to take his designs to a manufacturer. “Everything about the way we’ve set up our business and the infrastructure for making the products is about making the best chairs possible,” says Brian. “It doesn’t support making chairs fast.” He continues, “From the very beginning—how we get the material and what material we get—through the finishing process, we can’t move fast enough and hit our standard.
With the assistance of manufacturing partners, we can provide that though.” In February, Mountain BizWorks announced that Brian Boggs Chairmakers would be part of ScaleUp WNC, a program to increase the market reach of select businesses in the Asheville region.
Brian hopes the resources provided through ScaleUp will allow the company to find a perfect partner for increased production capabilities. “By having some of our work done by other companies, we can create a line that is well designed, but doesn’t have the expensive rendering of detail that we have here,” Brian says.
Located at 239 Amboy Road, Brian Boggs Chairmakers offers free workshop tours Monday through Saturday at 2 p.m. For more information, visit brianboggschairmakers.com.
